True Colours
by HelenL
Summary: The race is over for Gibbs and the rest of the team, because they have Abby- or her body, anyway. But none of them are going to give up until they find and kill those who are responsible.
1. He's back

**A/N: **This is my first NCIS fic, please be nice... And also, please don't go off what my profile says about my shippings. This one's a little bit different, despite what you may see in the second chapter. Although I haven't decided on the twist yet... Anyways... Please Read and Review.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own them... Never have, probably never will. I wish though!

**Summary: **When Special Agent Carol Davis is found dead in a corridor that should not have been empty, Gibbs and the team must solve the case. Then one of them is kidnapped by someone from Gibbs' past. Will the two seemingly unrelated cases come together? Or is Gibbs trying too hard to make things fit because of his guilt?

Gibbs walked into the NCIS Headquarters feeling extremely moody. He sat in his desk chair and glared at the computer screen, which was running through the database. Tony DiNozzo and Kate Todd, his fellow agents, walked in together, talking animatedly.

"No, Tony, he won't. I don't even think he'd let Abby do _that,_" Kate was explaining irritably.

"Who wouldn't let Abby do what?" Gibbs asked curiously.

"Oh- um- nothing," replied Kate quickly, elbowing Tony before he could respond. He did anyways.

"You wouldn't let Abby bring a friend to work," he explained confidently.

Kate hit him across the back of his head. "_Tony,_" she hissed menacingly.

"I see... DiNozzo? What does that have to do with you?" Gibbs replied, rather amused.

This time Kate spoke up, knowing full and well that Tony would not appreciate her response. "Well, Tony here figured that anything you'd let Abby do, you'd let him do too. He wants to bring a _girl_ with him to work"

Tony smiled at her. "Jealous?" he replied cockily.

She smirked. "You wish," was her immediate reply.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Let the torture commence," he muttered as they continued their 'discussion'.

He examined his desk and discovered no files on it. Odd though it was, Gibbs wasn't complaining. It had been a trying week, what with Kate and Tony's constant bickering over pointless matters.

"DiNozzo! Shut UP!" Gibbs yelled angrily.

Tony was taken aback. Gibbs was usually in a fairly good mood, considering the circumstances, but now he was ticked- not a good sign, considering it was only just 8:00.

"Gibbs? You okay?" asked Kate, genuinely concerned for her boss.

He didn't answer her, but opted to stalk off moodily.

Kate and Tony looked at each other, then at the floor. Tony seemed to be undaunted by the awkward silence, as he commenced to sit at his desk and play computer games.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Typical male stereotype," she murmured.

"Hey!" objected Tony. "I may be topical, but I'm not deaf!"

Kate laughed. "Whatever Mr. Topical..." She shook her head, amused at the holes Tony was forever digging himself into.

"You're mocking me aren't you?" he accused her.

"Me?!? Mock you?!? Never..." she replied, feigning shock.

He turned back to his game and gunshots sounded throughout the office building.

"Tony... Tell me that was your game," pleaded Kate quickly as Tony tore his eyes from the computer screen.

"N-no. It wasn't," he replied, looking to her for an explanation.

Their eyes locked. Suddenly, Kate was struck with a horrifying realization. "Gibbs!" she gasped. "It's the terrorist," she added in a solemn whisper.


	2. Coffee, Gunshots and a Major Mistake

**A/N: **As I said before, ignore what my profile says about shippings. I know this is following what my profile says- but, as you read, you'll notice that they avoid each other for most of the rest of the fic... Duh!

Gibbs was wandering aimlessly through the office building, unsure of where he had intended to go. Abruptly, he altered his course to the break room. He had decided to go and get himself a coffee, in the hopes of improving his mood. Just because he was temperamental didn't mean he was oblivious to his own feelings.

Faint gunshots echoed through the abnormally silent office building. Gibbs dropped his cup of coffee and tried to determine if the gunshots were above or below him. His first thought was to run upstairs to Tony and Kate, but then he remembered Abby and Ducky. They were several floors down and would be unarmed, unless Abby randomly decided to bring a gun with her. Gibbs definitely wouldn't have put it past her.

After a moment's deliberation, Gibbs rushed down to Abby's lab. Tony and Kate had their own guns, and even if Tony wouldn't think to grab his, Kate would certainly go for hers, and then _maybe_ Tony's. Gibbs reached the floor Abby's lab was on apprehensively, his gun in hand and ready to shoot. The elevator doors opened and he peered out cautiously. There was nothing or no one to be seen. More curious than anything else, Gibbs moved down the hallway.

Abby's blinds in her lab were shut, and, as far as Gibbs could tell, her lights were off. Fearing the worst, he entered her lab. There was no music playing, and her wheelie desk chair was in its proper spot. Everything was where it had been when she left the previous evening, as far as he knew. Perhaps Abby was taking a nap? It would certainly explain the darkness and lack of music. He put his gun back in its holster and began searching her lab.

"Abby?!?" whispered Gibbs, hoping she wouldn't be as irritable as he would be after being awakened from a nap. There was no answer. Gibbs looked around, hoping to see some kind of clue that she was around somewhere. _You are a crime scene examiner_ he told himself harshly. _You ought to be able to figure out if she's here!_

"ABBY!" he yelled, though he hadn't meant to. He was angry with himself, so, naturally, he took it out on everyone else. How hard could it possibly be to find one napping lab analyst? Even if it was Abby!

Now Gibbs was annoyed with her. How dare she avoid him, or be napping when she'd been at work less than an hour? It was absurd! "Abigail Sciuto!" he yelled, kicking the wall in frustration.

"Please don't call me Abigail!" came the voice of his lab rat, Abby. "And I also would like the wall to stay intact, now that I think about it..." she added as she turned on the light. Gibbs immediately walked over to the blinds and pulled them up.

"Abbs- where have you been?" asked Gibbs as he followed her to her desk chair and sat in the other chair reserved for Pendergast or Jennifer. Gibbs knew the FBI agents were currently on their honeymoon and therefore neither of them would need it.

"Is there a reason you're in my lab?" she replied, trying to change the subject. It didn't work.

"Answer my question, then maybe I'll answer yours," he replied not falling into her trap.

"What was the question?" she asked sheepishly.

"Where were you?" he repeated, not missing a beat.

"Ummmm... I wasn't here..." she responded, avoiding his gaze.

"Ok, Abby, I think I could have figured that much out on my own. But, if you won't answer that question, then..." he paused, trying to make her fidget while he thought of something to threaten her with.

"Then what?" she asked, unimpressed.

He leaned forwards and kissed her softly. He pulled away quickly and his eyes widened in horror. He jumped out of his chair and ran out the door in shock. Abby sat dazed in her computer chair, contemplating what had happened.

"Did he just..." she pointed to the chair he had been sitting in. "And then... and now..." her voice trailed off as she pointed to the door, slightly amused, but more bewildered than anything.

McGee walked past her window, and then came in her lab. Abby got up quickly to find her boss.

"Hey McGee- I'll be back soon," she greeted him hurriedly as she burst out the door.

McGee followed her.

"Gibbs!" she called down the hall as she heard the elevator door close.

"Abby? What on earth are you chasing Gibbs for?" McGee asked her curiously.

"I- er- nothing..." she answered hesitantly. He gave her look, letting her know that she wasn't fooling him for a minute. "Look, I'll explain later, okay? Just- please- stay _here_..." she gave him her best imitation of a puppy dog.

"Oh, fine," he sighed. "But you'll have a lot of explaining to do when you get back," he warned her feebly.

"Yeah... sure, whatever," she said absently, tearing down the hallway. "_Right!_ That'll happen..." she murmured once he was out of earshot. "What am I supposed to _say_? Sorry McGee, my boss just kissed me and now I like him better than you?!? Sure..." she muttered as she rushed to the elevator.


	3. The Death of Tony

**A/N:** Okay, let's see... Oh- right. From the last chapter, there were two very subtle charcters (neither of whom belong to me). They were Jennifer and Pendergast... Special Agent Pendergast, FBI belongs to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs. Jennifer belongs to my best friend and fellow author, Rogue-X-404. So if you want to use Pendergast, I would assume that to be okay, but you'd sure as hell better ask Rogue if you want to use Jennifer...

Tony laughed.

"_What_ is so _funny_?" asked Kate incredulously.

"Y-y-you..." gasped Tony through his laughter. "You're so _gullible_!" he finally managed to spit out.

Kate gave him a quizzical look. "_What_ do you mean DiNozzo?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know what- I don't care. Gibbs is who knows where and there's someone shooting a gun- we've got to go _now_!" She grabbed her gun and waited impatiently for Tony to get his. "Get your gun, before I leave without you," she ordered when he didn't move.

"Kate... Gibbs is fine. You fell for me- er- it. It was my computer game," he managed to explain, seeing her face.

Kate's eyes burned with anger. How _dare_ he do this to her?_ He ought to know how much everyone is worried about that damn terrorist getting Gibbs again. Clearly he doesn't care._ She pointed her gun at him. "Any last words?" she asked cockily, but as serious as ever.

"You wouldn't shoot me," he replied with a smug smile and inclination of his head. "You- You can't. The boss won't let you," he added, sounding slightly worried.

She smiled, her eyes flashing angrily. "In case you haven't noticed- he's not here to save your sorry ass. Oh, and for the record, I am quite capable of shooting at whoever I want," she replied confidently.

Gibbs rounded the corner and surveyed the scene in front of him. Kate and Tony both looked at him, startled. Tony appeared to be terrified, but grateful, though you never could tell with that one and Kate looked flustered besides being extremely angry. Kate had a gun- her gun- in her hand and it was pointed at Tony. Tony seemed to be glued to the floor, as he wasn't even attempting to get out of the range of Kate's gun. Her hand shook ever so slightly as she released the safety and turned her head back to Tony.

"KATE!" yelled Gibbs, feeling almost worried that she really would kill Tony. It had been hard enough to get Tony to take the position, and he wasn't exactly the best Crime Scene Examiner on the team. "Kate," he repeated, calmer this time, "I don't know what Tony did, but please... don't kill him."

Kate and Tony looked at each other, dumbfounded, and then Kate remembered she was mad at Tony. "What's it to you?" they asked, simultaneously. Kate glared at him.

"Do you know how hard it was to get _Tony_ to do this?" he asked them, regaining his boss-like manner. "Besides, think of all the paperwork we'd have to do," he added, knowing how much Kate despised it after working for the Secret Service.

"Kate, put the gun down..." he told her cautiously. She looked at him apprehensively. "Kate, I promise that whatever he did, he _will_ be punished for, as long as you put down the gun. Now, start from the beginning," he told her soothingly. Despite her misgivings, she set the gun down gently on the desk and pushed it away.

Footsteps thundered from the elevator. Gibbs knew, before they even reached halfway there that they were Abby's. _Damn it!_ He looked for an escape route as Kate began telling him how Tony had been playing a computer game. Gibbs did some quick thinking and looked at his watch after making a mental note to delete the game.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I've got a meeting with the boss," he told them, listening intently for the footsteps. They had stopped. Perhaps it wasn't Abby after all. Another set thundered. _This is ridiculous_. Then he realized something: this new set of footsteps was unmistakeably a set of steel-toed Army boots. As far as Gibbs knew, Abby was the only one in the building who wore them.

Gibbs stole a glance at Tony and Kate- they were arguing again. He slipped off unnoticed, wondering where to hide. The break room? No- there was too much of a risk. The bathroom? It had potential, but if he was in there for too long... _Well, there goes that plan_ he thought quickly. _Hmmmmm_. Gibbs peered around the corner and immediately saw Abby's head. He turned, heading for the break room.

**A/N:** Sorry that this took awhile to post... I was going to post it on Saturday night, but I was at my friend's party. And I thought that I was going to come home, though it would've been sort of late, but I was invited to sleep over. Because she's one of my best friends and I hadn't seen her for almost a year (she left our school... ::tear tear::), begged and begged my parents to let me stay. After many many promises of doing all kinds of things (mainly cleaning... altough there was some school/band related crap too), I was granted permisssion. So I didn't get to post this until now... And I realize that it's pretty late, because it was going to be on Saturday and it's tuesday night. If I get enough reviews, I'll post again this week, even though I'm only planning to post once a week, so that I don't run out of stuff too quickly. But yeah- no one wants to hear about my life... I'm taking away from the story (not that it's much better... I think it should get more interesting later- sorry about the sluggish beginning...) I think from now on that I'll just put stars next to my author's notes... To signify that it's important and all. And, once again, I'm taking away from the story ::looks away guiltily...:: Whoops!


	4. Dead Woman Talking

**A/N:** Okay, so i should've posted either last night or this morning. And I was going to; I really was! But, see, my cousin (who shall, for the time being, remain nameless- not that she'd ever be caught dead on a site like this...) is headed down the road of destruction- like really badly. So I was on a long distance phone call to Ireland until 11:45 EST (Eastern Standard Time, dudders). And I couldn't sleep at ALL last night (so I started a new fic- it's GAbby... Won't be posted for awhile, as I haven't even started to type it!) so I've been sleeping through my classes. Or, well, not literally, because I had to at least LOOK awake... but I don't have any of the notes or anything. So that's why I'm only just now posting. And because I delayed, you'll probably get the next chapter when I get home from Callaway Gardens on either Saturday or Sunday... Okay- I'm being a distraction again... **R&R!!!!**

"Kate? Have you seen Gibbs?" asked Abby when she finally reached their 'desk area'. Kate was glaring furiously at Tony, and Abby turned hurriedly to find Gibbs on her own.

Kate turned at the sound of her voice. "_Abby_? What are you doing up here?" asked a rather shocked Kate. Abby almost never left her lab during the work day- not unless Jennifer and Pendergast decided to drag her on a crime scene to see her 'forensic abilities' in action, as he had put it.

"I need to find Gibbs- where'd he go?" she asked breathlessly.

Tony gave her a look that told her _exactly_ what he was thinking... She held her tongue, so tempted to tell him what she thought of his looks... That and what was written all over his face about Kate. Then she remembered the reason she was here.

"Don't you know?" she asked, exasperated.

"Well, he _said_ that he had to go to a meeting with the big guy up there," Kate told her, looking at the ceiling.

Abby bit her lip, sure that he had run because of her. But how could he have known? She looked at her feet. Of course- her Doc Martin Army boots... And to think, she had almost snuck up the stairs without them. Gibbs couldn't be far, could he? She crept down the hall, trying her best to walk quietly.

Gibbs heard Abby's telltale boots approach him cautiously; he knew she was peering in every door to find him. He tiptoed to the light switch and turned it off, then crouched under a table in the corner. Abby's face soon appeared in the window.

She peered in and looked around briefly. _Do I go in and see, just in case? Or do I just leave?_ She opened the door a crack, and then stepped inside. She reached to turn on the light. Her hand froze, and there was an incredible sensation that she was being watched. The back of her neck prickled uncomfortably and she turned to leave.

Gibbs let out a loud breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding. If Abby had turned on the light or looked carefully, then he would certainly have been found. He waited several minutes longer, then got up and turned on the light. He poured himself the coffee he had come here for just over an hour ago. He wandered back to his desk, where Tony and Kate had apparently made up. They were sat at Tony's desk, no doubt attacking each other on one of Tony's games. He smiled at them, suppressing a snide comment.

"Hey boss! There's a case file on your desk," Tony said, eyes still focused on the screen. "YES!" he shouted triumphantly.

"Damn it Tony!" cried Kate in frustration. Her face reddened when she looked up to see Gibbs glaring down at them. "Uh... I can explain?" she offered timidly.

"It's not her fault," spoke up Tony defensively, surprising all three of them. "See, she was telling me how stupid computer games are and-"

Gibbs cut him off. "Did I ask?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but..." Tony replied uncomfortably.

"Turn it off and I won't make you delete it. We have a case to solve," Gibbs said, feeling apprehensive, but no longer mad.

Tony and Kate exchanged a look. This was the first time Gibbs had actually let Tony keep a game on his computer. "Are you okay boss?" asked Tony, obediently turning off the game.

"Yes... Are you implying something by that, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked harshly, even as a smile was dancing on his lips.

Kate slid her chair back to her desk, and waited while Gibbs read the case file. She hadn't realized how much fun computer games could be. Not that she'd ever tell Tony that... That was the last thing she needed, Tony teasing her about a computer game. Of course, she had lost, so he would rub that in her face for the next six months.

Tony leaned back in his desk chair, confident that Kate had enjoyed his game. Maybe she would play with him everyday and then they could... Well, maybe that was pushing it a bit, but only a bit. But perhaps she'd beat him one day? _Nah_ thought Tony with a smile. He owned the games, and could easily beat her at any of them.

Gibbs finished reading the case file and frowned. How was he supposed to give Abby her distance _now_? Not only was she a part of the team, but they'd be working not too far from her lab. He tossed the case file onto Kate's desk with a frown.

Tony slid his chair over to Kate's desk, and they read the case file together. Kate finished first. She might not be very good with computer games, but at least she could read...

"Here?!? But- but... How?!?" spluttered Kate once she was finished. It was absurd... What about the security cameras? What about all the people? Surely _someone_ had seen something. It was impossible that such a crowded government building could miss someone being shot in the middle of a hallway, no matter how few people worked on or near it.

Tony sat there, curious. "What time was this?" he asked Kate.

She consulted the case file. "Around 8:30 or so... Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because... that's when I was playing my game. What if whoever it was-?"

Kate sighed at his ignorance- he had literally just finished reading the case file. "Special Agent Carol Davis," she informed him without bothering to look at the papers.

"Yeah, her. Anyways, what if she was shot while I was playing my game?" continued Tony, acting as if he had just solved the case on his own.

"Yeah... so what?" asked Gibbs and Kate simultaneously.

"So- maybe it wasn't my game that scared the hell out of Kate," he told them excitedly.

"Meaning..." asked Gibbs.

"Well... I think she owes me an apology..." he explained with a cocky smile and a nod of his head.

"Actually, no... See, either way, you had intended to trick me," Kate reminded him. "So I owe you nothing... just be glad you apologized in time," she teased.

"Whatever- you wouldn't have _really _killed me..." he responded confidently.

"That's all you know," she retorted savagely.

"Tony! Kate! That's quite enough... Now, let's call Ducky and go to that crime scene," interrupted Gibbs impatiently.


	5. A Jealous Boss

**A/N:** I don't usually do shoutouts, but I guess I'll make an exception for this chapter, at least.  
**GAbby fans: **I know that no one really agrees with us and you're probably just reading this because it's one of very few GAbby fics. Thanks for putting up with my crappy writing.  
**Kibbs fans:** If all you're going to do is complain that this should be Kibbs, then don't read it! I know I haven't had any reviews like that, but just for future reference....  
**Puzzled People:** I know it's a little bit confusing. I can't figure out what's really confusing you- is it the plot? Or is it my typos and contradictory stuff? I had people correct as much as they could, so all remaining mistakes are mine... Yeah.  
**ccabello:** Thanks for reading all of my fics!

Gibbs walked at least three paces behind Kate and Tony, who were completely unaware of everything and everyone but themselves and another of their 'discussions'. Gibbs stopped at Abby's lab and looked in. McGee was whispering in her ear and, by the looks of things, she was laughing. McGee turned back to the computer and she stood just behind him, looking over his shoulder with a flirty smile. Gibbs sighed and hurried to catch up with his fellow agents.

"Good morning," Ducky greeted them in his English drawl.

Gibbs surveyed the scene before him. Blood was splattered on the floor and walls, and Special Agent Carol was lying limp and lifeless in a pool of blood.

"Do you have a time of death yet Ducky?" asked Gibbs.

"Oh no- not yet Jethro," he answered, quickly kneeling next to the body to check it. He opened her eyes cautiously; they were only just beginning to get cloudy. "In any case, she's dead," he informed them.

"Do you know- this reminds me of some authors I once met," began Ducky distractedly.

"Did they die in a supposedly secure government building?" asked Tony curiously.

"No. They worked in one though and-"

"Ducky, you're going to give Tony nightmares," cut in Gibbs warningly.

"Right you are," he replied with a smile. "You know Jethro, you should've brought Abby along..." mused Ducky as an afterthought.

"Abby belongs in her lab," answered Gibbs tersely.

"But boss, her lab's just over there. We could go and get her," pointed out Tony, clearly missing Gibbs' drop-it tone. Gibbs gave him a piercing glare. "Just over there..." he tried again.

"Tony, now would be a good time to back off," Kate told him with a slightly smug smile. She knelt by the body and began taking pictures while Gibbs looked for any traces of the killing weapon.

"Well, whoever it was sure knew what they were doing," declared Tony, who was looking for anything he could bag as evidence and send to Abby. So far all he had was Agent Carol's affects.

"Maybe they knew you'd be working the case and would miss anything subtle that they left," joked Kate.

"Funny..." muttered Tony sarcastically.

Gibbs shook his head and got up. "Well, the weapon definitely isn't here," he decided finally, moving on to get a blood sample for Abby, though he wasn't sure that it would be very useful in this case.

"Do you think it was an inside job boss?" asked Tony hesitantly.

"Tony, that was not one of your more brilliant questions. In case you haven't noticed we're in a tight security government building!" Kate reminded him with a frustrated sigh.

"You're not my boss; make another comment like that, and you'll wish you had been her," retorted Tony, pointing to the body.

Gibbs and Ducky exchanged exasperated glances. Gibbs sighed- they did not pay him enough for this job. Not when it involved babysitting two grown adults that acted like they were two year olds.

"DiNozzo, stop threatening Kate," ordered Gibbs, not letting his slight amusement show.

"But boss-" protested Tony indignantly. Gibbs silenced him with a look.

Tony had finished bagging Agent Carol's few belongings that she carried with her, and Kate had taken pictures from just about every angle remotely possible. Gibbs scrutinized the evidence disdainfully and sighed.

"Abby's not going to be able to do much with this," he commented, somewhat angrily. He had known Special Agent Carol, but, from the looks of things, not even Abby would be able to find something useful. He stalked off, leaving Tony, Kate and Ducky in a white tile hallway, now stained with the blood of his former co-Agent.

"Which of you two is willing to take these to Abby?" asked Ducky after Gibbs left.

"I'll do it!" offered Kate immediately. She grabbed the bags and set off down the hall, with Tony at her heels.

Kate turned and he ran into her abruptly. "Why are you following me?" she questioned him when he grabbed her instinctively.

"_I_ am going upstairs. You just happened to be in my way," he answered.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the door of Abby's lab after he released her.

"Abby?!?" she called as the door slid shut behind her and heavy rock music blasted her ears. Tony waved to her at the window and she smiled despite herself.

Abby appeared at the doorway between her lab and her desk. "Oh, hi Kate," she greeted her dolefully.

"Abby, what's wrong?" Kate asked, genuinely concerned.

"Nothing!" Abby answered quickly.

"Abby, your make-up's all smudged and it looks like you pulled out your pigtails not too long ago. Something's wrong," Kate informed her kindly as she set the evidence down y Abby's computer. "Come on- tell me," she prodded.

Abby sat dejectedly at her desk chair. Kate assumed Abby was about to tell her everything so she sat down across from her. "I'm confused," began Abby slowly.

"About what?" asked Kate curiously.

Abby looked at her feet and debated. She didn't want to embarrass Gibbs and, in any case, it wouldn't feel right until she had talked to him first. "Well, McGee' been acting really... hinky lately. Like, he's been all possessive, but he's also been avoiding me. At first I was all bothered and I thought it was my fault, but now I'm suspicious. It's like he's hiding something from me," she confided. "If there's someone else or something's bothering him, why can't he just tell me?" she wondered out loud.

Abby seemed close to tears and, for once, Kate had no idea what to do. She put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly. Abby put her head miserably in her hands. "Is there anything I can do?" Kate used as an attempt to comfort her.

"No... Well, maybe," replied Abby. Kate waited patiently for her to answer and wondered what she had gotten herself into _this_ time.

"I think Gibbs is either mad at me or avoiding me. Will you find out what I did?" requested Abby, sounding a little less depressed.

"I'll see what I can do," promised Kate with a smile. "Oh, and you might want to get cracking on the case..." she informed her. Abby got up quickly. "I left the evidence by your computer!" called Kate over her shoulder as she walked out of the lab.

Abby spotted the six tiny bags of evidence and paused. "That's it?!?" she cried incredulously. She sighed. "They expect _way_ too much of me..."


	6. In Denial

**A/N: **You're all very perceptive... Especially Charmed-angel4... Yes, Kate and Tony are flirting. And yes- poor Abby. I feel all guilty- but I swear, she's my favourite character. Let's just I say I do these things because I like to develope her character. Oh- I warn you now. I will have to do some McGee/Abby scenes. But I promise that that's NOT my final pairing. ::shudders:: Does anyone want to venture a guess as to who's going to do what to Abby? And Abby, Kate... etc. (all of the people who have been informed of my plot/twis)- no cheating!

Kate walked in to find Tony's desk empty and Gibbs staring morbidly at his computer screen.

"Gibbs?" began Kate hesitantly. He looked up at her expectantly. "Gibbs, what did you do to Abby? She's got it in her head that she's done something wrong and now you're mad at her," she finished quickly, hoping he wouldn't yell at her.

"Where'd she get that?" asked an extremely puzzled Gibbs.

This was the part she had been dreading. "Well, you _are _avoiding her..." pointed out Kate awkwardly as she sat in her chair. She was meddling in affairs that were way over her head, and she knew it. Of course, she also knew that Gibbs' place was in Abby's lab; it was just a matter of him figuring that out. Being the self-appointed matchmaker at NCIS wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"I am not!" he retorted quickly, even though he knew she would see right through his lie. It wasn't like Abby was going to want him around her lab anymore; he had screwed that up royally.

"Gibbs, I'm not Tony. I heard Abby come up the stairs earlier, just like you. I know you stopped and looked in on her and McGee on the way down the hall to Carol's body. I heard how tense you were when Ducky and Tony tried to get you to bring her with us," she alerted him, not realizing that she had pinpointed his feelings of jealousy better than he ever would or could.

"Did they teach you to be that interpretive and observant in the Secret Service?" wondered Gibbs.

"No, I picked it up from Abby," she told him seriously. "Just go and talk to her, if only to set her mind at ease," Kate pleaded convincingly. "Oh and while you're at it, would you please explain to me what you and her are keeping from me and the rest of the world?" added Kate thoughtfully.

Gibbs froze momentarily. What had Abby said or done that had made Kate suspicious? Or had Abby told her and now Kate wanted to hear it from him? He gave himself a mental shake and smiled. "Sorry Kate, I have to go and beg Abby's forgiveness. Use you analytical brain and figure it out on your own," Gibbs advised slyly as he got up.

Kate watched him go and smiled. "Well, that's one mission accomplished," she muttered, leaning back in her chair.

"First sign of madness you know," Kate heard Tony say. He had suddenly reappeared at his desk and was sitting in his chair. She vaguely wondered how long he had been there.

"What?" she asked him without thinking.

"Talking to yourself, it's the first sign of madness," he clarified.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll make a note of it..." she assured him sarcastically.


	7. The Telltale Bullet

**A/N:** Sorry- I've been really busy and had way too much homework. And I'm running low on chapters, because I'm vaguely stuck, but I do have through chapter 16. So, in order to space these out (although I'm sure this'll backfire), there's a number in my head and once I get that number of reviews, I'll post again. The amount of stuff in the chapter determines the reviews necessary- a chapter full of just Kate and Tony that I use to take up space will have less than the one with Gibbs' conclusion.

Gibbs stood awkwardly by the elevator. He knew he needed to go and talk to Abby, but so many things could go wrong. He was having a bad case of the what-ifs. What if she kicked him out? What if she wasn't there? What if she was mad at him? What if he suddenly went tongue-tied and couldn't even remember why he was there? What would he do if McGee was in there? What would he do if McGee _wasn't_ in there? What would Abby's reaction be to his apology for avoiding her? What if all she wanted was a reason for what he had done earlier? How would he explain _this_ one away? He couldn't even explain it to himself, much less her.

The elevator came and Gibbs chickened out. He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to go and see Ducky instead. Abby wasn't going anywhere; she'd still be there when he worked up the courage to say something. The elevator stopped on Ducky's floor and Gibbs walked into his lab.

"I was wondering when you'd come and visit me Jethro," said Ducky, without even bothering to turn and look at Gibbs. Carol's body was lying on the autopsy table, which made Gibbs usually strong stomach lurch. He looked away quickly. A blood covered bullet lay next to a scalpel on Ducky's tool tray.

"Did you get this from her body?" asked Gibbs. He leaned in and examined it closer, though he didn't touch it.

"Yes, and it needs to go to our favourite lab rat," he replied. Gibbs guiltily remembered his promise to Kate. Ducky moved over next to him and picked up the bullet with his gloved hand. He held it up to the light so that Gibbs could see it at least a little better.

"Well, I don't know how helpful this is going to be, but it's looking like our best bet. Did you find anything interesting about it?" wondered Gibbs, not expecting much.

"I don't know much about guns or bullets," Ducky warned him.

"Continue..." prodded Gibbs, knowing how much Ducky liked to be persuaded to share information.

"Well, I can almost definitely assure you that this came from a standard government-issue gun," supplied Ducky.

"How standard?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"That's something you're going to have to ask Abby," replied Ducky. Gibbs recognized that as Ducky's way of saying that he had no idea.

"Well, then how do you know that it's government-issued?" countered Gibbs. What if Ducky was just guessing and really had no idea?

Ducky held the bullet in front of Gibbs. "Do you see the serial number written across the bottom of the bullet?" Gibbs nodded and focused intently on the tiny markings. "The government puts their serial numbers on the bottom. All other issuers have to put theirs on the top."

"Ah..." Gibbs was yet again impressed by Ducky's extensive knowledge of seemingly pointless facts that all too often became highly useful, if not vital in a case. "So we almost definitely have ourselves an inside job?" assumed Gibbs.

"That would be my guess..." he agreed. "Of course it could just be a government conspiracy." He put the bullet in a plastic evidence bag and snapped it shut. "Take this to Abby on your way upstairs please," requested Ducky as he handed it to Gibbs.

He took it and left.


	8. Busted

**A/N:** Sorry- I should've posted sooner. I meant to last night, but Abby was over. So I didn't. And this is a short chapter, so I'll probably post either tomorrow night or on Tuesday... Thanks for the reviews!

Gibbs got off the elevator hesitantly. He knew he was about to be grilled by Kate and he was completely unprepared. He walked cautiously to his desk, trying to draw as little unwanted attention to himself as possible. Kate and Tony were both sitting casually at their desks. Kate was absorbed in some magazine, and Tony was concentrating on the computer screen- no doubt playing another of his computer games.

"That was fast," remarked Kate as he sat down. She closed her magazine and surveyed him. Gibbs saw that she had not been reading a magazine that meddled in the lives of celebrities. Instead, she was reading _Mystery Scene_; he wasn't sure that that was much better.

He avoided her gaze and didn't answer. "Take this to Abby," he told her, holding up the evidence bag.

"You didn't go did you?" asked Kate, knowing all too well that he hadn't. She sighed; he had probably never had any intentions of going to see Abby.

"I was going to, and I thought about it but I-" he protested.

"Gibbs! She's falling to pieces; just go and talk to her," Kate reprimanded him forcefully.

"Another redhead?" asked Tony with a self assured smile. "Or not...." He added quickly, catching and, for once, understanding the looks Kate and Gibbs threw his way. They ignored him and resumed their conversation.

Gibbs had forgotten that Tony was there. He didn't want him to figure out who Kate was telling him to go and see. He didn't want to consider how many problems that would cause. That was the last thing he needed; Tony knowing he kissed Abby and Abby knowing that Tony knew.

"Just take this to Abby, okay?" Gibbs suggested. His tone told her to drop it, at least in front of Tony. He tossed her the bag.

She caught it deftly and sighed. "Well, this is going to help..." she informed them sarcastically.

"Go!"

She turned and left quickly, not wanting to face the infamous wrath of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Tony watched her go and smiled. Then he turned thoughtfully to Gibbs. "You know boss, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a thing for her..." he mused.

"For who? Kate?" he wondered distractedly.

"No, Abby!" he replied with another of his self assured smiles.

"I've always liked her," he said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Gibbs, you've never just _liked_ anyone. You're one just one of those people who either hates someone, loves someone or just doesn't give a damn. There is no middle ground," Tony paused a moment. "Hey boss, what about me?"

"What about you DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with a smile.

"How do you feel about me?" he wanted to know.

"Some things, like this, are better left unsaid," he answered as he turned back to his computer.

Tony sat there for a moment feeling extremely confused. "So does that mean that you hate me or that you just don't give a damn?" he tried again.

"Just drop it DiNozzo..." Gibbs warned him.


	9. Teasing Abby

**A/N:** Okay, I know you all want TATE action, so Ch. 14, 16, and 18. I haven't quite decided the outcome of one of their coversations, but I think I may have to put them together. Who knows? And yes, Gibbs has to talk to Abby. But he won't! Silly! Just out of curiousity- does anyone think that they know who's kidnapped? Or- even better- who does the kidnapping? And Abby, Kate, (once again- not the show characters), Sarah, etc.- no cheating!

Kate walked into Abby's lab and found her examining the list of numbers from Agent Carol's pager. They were displayed on Abby's projected big screen and she was glaring at the results. She noticed that her pigtails were in place again and took that as a good sign. And don't worry- Gibbs will talk to Abby, and she'll be... Well, Abby- she wonders what the hell he did.

"Have you found anything yet?" asked Kate hopefully, making her jump.

"Don't _do_ that!" cried Abby as she turned around to give Kate a smile. Kate smiled back; her make-up was fixed and, except for the almost gone redness in her left eye,

"Sorry... So what did you find?" she tried again.

"Absolutely nothing. The only repetitive calls came from her husband and daughter. It looks like someone just randomly singled her out," Abby admitted, not bothering to hide her disappointment.

"Can you think of a motive?" attempted Kate one last time.

"Sorry, I've got nothing. Besides, that's your job! Nice try though..." Abby answered.

Kate pulled the plastic evidence bag out of her pocket and grinned mischievously. "I'll help you make your job easier if you'll help me make mine easier," she replied, waving the bag just out of Abby's reach.

Abby laughed. "You're as bad as me! What is that?"

"The bullet from Carol's body..." Kate told her. Abby's mouth fell open and she jumped for the bag.

"C'mon Kate! Give it to me!" Abby begged as she jumped again. Once again she found herself wishing that shoes weren't a requirement. Kate was wearing heels that were a good eight inches high, which meant that Abby was a good six inches shorter, even with her Army boots on. She glared at Kate's designer shoes that had most likely cost around a hundred dollars. Abby's most expensive pair of shoes was her Doc Marten Army boots, which she had bought on clearance.

"Give me a motive..." teased Kate.

Abby sighed reluctantly. "Just remember that this is a guess... and only a guess, okay? Don't bank the case on me alone." She was slightly amused at how much Kate had changed since she came to NCIS. She was becoming more and more like... Abby. Kate nodded and waited for her friend to continue. "I think that Carol found something out about another agent... Maybe whoever killed her was involved in illegal activities. Maybe they're an informer for another agency or something... Maybe it's something like a conspiracy! At any rate, now that person's gone and killed her. I think our best bet's going to be to assume that it was an inside job and that we need to find out whatever Carol did," guessed Abby. "Oh my god! It could easily be someone like..." she paused and thought. "Well, for all we know, it could be Gibbs or Tony or... Or Ducky! Or McGee or some random person that I haven't ever heard of..." Abby trailed off and her brows furrowed with concentration. "Wow... Whoever it is has to be one hell of an actor... or actress!"

Kate had to laugh. "You think too much Abbs..."

"Wait a second Kate. You didn't kill Carol, did you?" asked Abby worriedly.

"Abby!" protested Kate, feeling slightly hurt that Abby could even joke about that. After all, they were best friends.

"I was just checking... Of course, you could be lying to me..." Abby realized.

"Abby, if I did kill Carol and I got a hold of the bullet that I used to kill her, would I really be down here to give it to you?" she asked reasonably, knowing that Abby was just being her paranoid self.

"Oh, yeah... Sorry Kate!" she apologized guiltily.

"Sometimes I wonder about you Abbs..." replied Kate as she set the bullet down in front of her friend.

"Thanks," muttered Abby begrudgingly.

"I owe it all to you Abbs," Kate reminded her with a genuine smile.

"Yes... That's the part that worries me. I mean, hey, soon enough you're going to be coming to work decked out in full Hot Topic© gothic clothes with dyed black hair worn up in pigtails..." Abby looked Kate up and down thoughtfully. "Actually Kate, I think we might be able to a lot with that look... And you and I could go the mall on weekends shopping for Newlydeads CDs and coffin stuff and- So yeah..." she mused.

Kate laughed. "Abby, don't even think about it!" she warned.

"Aw, come on Kate... I'll trade clothes with you for today and then you can see how comfy they are," Abby pleaded. Now she was really curious about how Kate would look as a fellow Goth.

"Well, at least you're back to your normal, cheerful self..." Kate sighed.

"McGee hasn't been in here since you guys came down to the crime scene. He left just after you walked past. You know, I can't believe I didn't notice that something was hinky... I mean, I never oversleep! It had to be a sign that something was amiss at work. Oh my god- what if this was just some random killing spree. What if you or Gibbs or Tony or Ducky or even McGee had come down here and had been in the range of fire? I could be helping to investigate the death of someone on the team!"

"Then let's be glad no one needed you at the time... What about Gibbs? Has he been down here yet?" she asked hesitantly, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Gibbs had been lying to her earlier.

"Not since I got to work..." replied Abby as she sank back into her chair. She was starting to feel slightly morbid and depressed again. "Why do _I_ always end up talking to _you_ about my personal problems? Is my life really that screwed up?" she wondered.

Kate sat down next to her and wished that she hadn't brought up the subject. "Your life is not screwed up Abby. And at least you _have_ a personal life... Do you know what it's like to go home to an empty house, wishing that you had someone to share it with? I go home every night and hope that, one of these days, someone's going to be there to call me just to ask me how my day went and then take me out for dinner," Kate confessed. She managed a small smile, for Abby's sake. "You have no idea how lucky you are."

"If this is lucky, than I would so much rather be you right now. You don't have to worry about doing something wrong and undoing everything you've worked so hard to keep together," Abby murmured wistfully. She grinned abruptly. "How ironic is this? I want your life and you want mine... Maybe we _should_ trade clothes," she decided thoughtfully.

"Yes, well, we both know that's not going to happen. And now that today's pity party is officially over, we really ought to get back to our jobs... Gibbs is going to kill us if he finds out that we're having a girly moment on our normal hours," Kate decided reluctantly. "Oh, and I'd put a rush order on the bullet if I were you- the sooner that we know whose it is, the sooner that Gibbs is going to be down here to sort all of this out for you," advised Kate with a wink as she got up to leave.

"I'm sensing that you weren't just talking about the case, were you?" Abby laughed. "And would you please tell Gibbs that I say for him to get his sorry ass into my lab before I change my mind and decide he's not allowed inside anymore?" she requested with a wink.

"Oh yeah- that reminds me! What are you and Gibbs hiding from the rest of the world?" asked Kate as she whirled back around.

"Hiding? What do you mean hiding? Gibbs and I are hiding something?" Abby gave her a confused look.

"As I told Gibbs earlier, I'm not Tony. You've passed your sharp senses on to me, and I know something's up!" she protested indignantly.

"Well, when and if you find out what we're hiding, would you please let me know? Because I am seriously just as clueless as you are!" Abby told her honestly. She stood up and stretched, then pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

Kate watched her quietly for a minute; Abby's body language suggested that Abby really had no idea what Kate meant and was clearly telling the truth. Abby was also her best friend, so Kate decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I'll let you know," she promised as she left Abby's lab.


	10. Spacing Out

Abby smiled and focused her microscope on the bullet that was now lying underneath it. She already suspected that it would turn out to be a bullet from either NCIS or a similar government agency's gun. Whether or not the bullet could be traced to a specific gun and owner or not would depend upon the agency. Although she was a bit biased, she believed NCIS was definitely one of the best when it came to keeping up with which guns were registered to which agents, but bigger agencies such as the CIA and, as much as she hated to admit it, the FBI had better things to worry about and more pressing matters to attend to.

She concentrated on the bullet and wondered where it had been shot from. Did whoever shot Carol sneak up behind her and just shoot her in the back of the head? Did Carol have any idea that she was going to die soon? A new thought occurred to Abby. What if Carol wasn't even the intended target? What if the person was really after someone else on the floor and Carol happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? She gasped; what if the intended target had been her? She found herself looking cautiously around the lab, as though a hidden killer was waiting for her.

She flipped the bullet over carefully and zoomed in on the serial number. At least the entire thing was there... There wasn't much in her career that was more irksome than having the most generic part of a serial number. It was also quite galling when the serial number was all you had to work with in the first place. She smiled as she remembered having to solve a case where the two situations had been combined. It had taken awhile, but she had solved the case and Gibbs had bragged about her abilities for months afterwards. She sighed. Thinking about previous cases wasn't going to get this one solved.

"Come on Abby, concentrate! You're being an idiot and Gibbs expects you to get this done. And even if Gibbs doesn't- Kate, Tony and Ducky are all depending on you..." she told herself. She nodded in agreement and took several magnified pictures of the serial number. Once that was done, she began to run the number through the database.

She didn't know how much time passed as she sat staring at the computer screen as it whizzed through its cycle; it could've been several weeks, for all she was aware of. She found herself wishing, yet again, that her brain could work as quickly as her computer could. Of course, she would never again tell someone else that. The only other person who knew was Kate, who had insisted that half of the time she thought that Abby's brain worked faster than the FBI's or the U.S. Secret Service's computers did. Strong arms enveloped her as she contemplated if it was even possible for the human brain to process information that quickly.


	11. Attacked

**A/N:** Okay, so I've been really busy. My 15 year old cousin ran away, my mother's a bitch- especially about grades, dad's been out of town and I haven't seen him in over a week... Yeah. You don't care about my personal life. Um... I was going to post last night, but I was with my best friend Abby- we had a sleep over- (yeah- on a school night... mother didn't want to argue with me!) and had fun. I love you Abbs!

"Are you going to tell me what you needed Gibbs for earlier?" asked McGee in her ear as she wondered who was being all touchy _this_ time.

She jumped about a foot in the air and spun her chair around quickly. "How many times do I have to remind you not to sneak up on me like that?" she retorted, somewhat angrily- though not for the reason he would suspect. Still, she had thought that McGee would've forgotten about her earlier game of hide-and-seek with Gibbs. As if any of that mattered now?

He ignored her momentary outburst of anger and looked at her computer screen suspiciously. "What is all of this?" he questioned her stonily.

She sighed exasperatedly, knowing that the only reason he was being like this was because he loved her. "McGee, it's case stuff. Would you please stop worrying about me? I'm not seeing anyone online; I'm not having cybersex; and you're the only guy that I'll even let into my house right now! You can check every electronic device I own, but I swear to you that it would just be a waste of your time..." she reminded him sweetly. She wanted to yell at him, but that was out of the question. Still- how dare he even think that she was messing around like that- especially at work? Clearly he had a reason to think that she was doing that kind of thing... but why?

"What's the case?" he wanted to know. His voice was still edgy, but he had stopped with the accusations; at least for now.

"Special Agent Carol was found dead outside of one of the labs down the hall and around the corner," she informed him, feeling quite relieved that the topic was now off of her and what she could be doing while she was at work.

He wandered curiously around her lab, occasionally stopping to examine things more closely. "Inside job?" he asked finally as he stopped to look at the bullet lying underneath her microscope.

"Well, we- that is, Kate and I- think so..." she replied with a sudden sneeze. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Why?" she added thoughtfully.

"Because it's my job to think about these things," he answered as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. "So what _are_ you doing on the computer?" he tried again, this time sounding more curious than accusing or demanding, which Abby decided was a major improvement and deserved a more specific answer.

"Ducky found the bullet still in Carol's body. I'm running the serial number through a database now," she explained with a shrug.

"I assume you'll figure out what agency it was with first, right?" he deduced distractedly. Abby wondered what he was thinking about, but knew better than to interrupt his thought process.

"Yeah, well, it's a whole lot easier that way," she agreed with a smile as she turned back to the computer.

"Who do you think it was?" he wondered.

"What is this? Twenty questions? Because I hate that game," she babbled as she so often did when she was happy or excited.

"Abby, I was being serious. I want to know what you think," McGee reprimanded her. It reminded her vaguely of when her mother told her to eat her vegetables or something.

She looked at him mischievously. "I think you killed her," she teased him playfully.

He gave her an odd look that she couldn't quite place the meaning of. She decided it had to be hurt, or else sadness. "Really?" he asked, sounding more than a little dejected.

She rolled her eyes to cover her slight guilt. "Of course not!" she answered him with a sigh.

"Then who _do_ you think it was?" he persisted.

"Honestly? I haven't got a damn clue!" she admitted as she sneezed again. "The evidence hasn't helped me yet. But I'm hoping that I'm not going to have to guess and that eventually one of these accursed databases will give me an answer!"

"So what you're saying is that all you have to do now is wait for the results of the agency and then the results of the actual person?" McGee asked her hopefully.

"No, I was going to do a full tox scan on the blood samples from Ducky, just in case, and then I was going to have lunch with Kate, because it's a Tuesday," she replied. He just stared at her, so she explained. "Kate always brings me lunch on Tuesdays and then we eat in here and discuss cases and life and get into big debates, even if we're both on the same side..."

His face fell.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just going to ask you if you wanted to join me for lunch somewhere," he told her wistfully.

She sighed reluctantly; lunch with McGee sounded like a nice break from all of her problems and now mixed up emotions. He was only over protective and suspicious at work. Abby secretly suspected that he was either jealous of Gibbs, which made no sense, or else Gibbs had told him to keep an eye out for her. At the moment she was leaning more towards the later. "You're welcome to eat lunch with me, if you want," she offered. "But I'm warning you now- Kate and I talk about some things that most guys don't want to hear. I remember once, when Kate had just started working here, Tony came in and- Well, let's just say he learned his lesson about coming into the lab on Tuesdays at lunchtime..."

McGee shook his head with an amused smile and considered her offer. "Lunch with you and Kate in the lab sounds wonderful," he decided.

She grinned and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms behind her head and stared up at him for a moment. "Do you think I need a shrink?" she wondered as she studied him curiously.

"Who told you that you need a shrink Abby?" he asked quickly.

"Take a wild guess..." she muttered bitterly.

He thought a moment. "Gibbs?" he guessed.

"No, I might have actually considered the idea if it had been Gibbs- after all, he's my boss, I have to at least pretend to listen to him," she told him without thinking.

"Tony?" he tried again.

"If Tony told me that I needed a shrink, he wouldn't be out to lunch right now... And I don't think that he'd really like to be castrated anytime soon," she replied.

"Well, it couldn't have been Kate or Ducky," he reminded her.

"And what made you think that it could've been Gibbs or Tony?" she asked incredulously.

"Fine- I give up. Who was it?"

She spun her chair in a complete circle as she thought. "Weren't you here when my mother came?" she asked with a frown.


	12. Why Is Abby sneezing?

**A/N:** Okay you guys, I've had one person make a guess as to who gets kidnapped and I've had one person guess who it is. I want at least 3 guesses for each thing before I tell you if anyone's right... Of course, if no one can guess both who's kidnapped and who kidnaps him/her, then you'll just have to find out with the characters. If you want to know who's kidnapped before it acutally happens, you're going to have to guess right before Chapter...13? Wow... You guys had better start guessing, huh?

"Are you going to tell me what you needed Gibbs for earlier?" asked McGee in her ear as she wondered who was being all touchy _this_ time.

She jumped about a foot in the air and spun her chair around quickly. "How many times do I have to remind you not to sneak up on me like that?" she retorted, somewhat angrily- though not for the reason he would suspect. Still, she had thought that McGee would've forgotten about her earlier game of hide-and-seek with Gibbs. As if any of that mattered now?

He ignored her momentary outburst of anger and looked at her computer screen suspiciously. "What is all of this?" he questioned her stonily.

She sighed exasperatedly, knowing that the only reason he was being like this was because he loved her. "McGee, it's case stuff. Would you please stop worrying about me? I'm not seeing anyone online; I'm not having cybersex; and you're the only guy that I'll even let into my house right now! You can check every electronic device I own, but I swear to you that it would just be a waste of your time..." she reminded him sweetly. She wanted to yell at him, but that was out of the question. Still- how dare he even think that she was messing around like that- especially at work? Clearly he had a reason to think that she was doing that kind of thing... but why?

"What's the case?" he wanted to know. His voice was still edgy, but he had stopped with the accusations; at least for now.

"Special Agent Carol was found dead outside of one of the labs down the hall and around the corner," she informed him, feeling quite relieved that the topic was now off of her and what she could be doing while she was at work.

He wandered curiously around her lab, occasionally stopping to examine things more closely. "Inside job?" he asked finally as he stopped to look at the bullet lying underneath her microscope.

"Well, we- that is, Kate and I- think so..." she replied with a sudden sneeze. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Why?" she added thoughtfully.

"Because it's my job to think about these things," he answered as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. "So what _are_ you doing on the computer?" he tried again, this time sounding more curious than accusing or demanding, which Abby decided was a major improvement and deserved a more specific answer.

"Ducky found the bullet still in Carol's body. I'm running the serial number through a database now," she explained with a shrug.

"I assume you'll figure out what agency it was with first, right?" he deduced distractedly. Abby wondered what he was thinking about, but knew better than to interrupt his thought process.

"Yeah, well, it's a whole lot easier that way," she agreed with a smile as she turned back to the computer.

"Who do you think it was?" he wondered.

"What is this? Twenty questions? Because I hate that game," she babbled as she so often did when she was happy or excited... or just bored.

"Abby, I was being serious. I want to know what you think," McGee reprimanded her. It reminded her vaguely of when her mother told her to eat her vegetables or something.

She looked at him mischievously. "I think you killed her," she teased him playfully.

He gave her an odd look that she couldn't quite place the meaning of. She decided it had to be hurt, or else sadness, which was odd, because nothing she said ever seemed to bother him. She immediately felt guilty.

"Really?" he asked, sounding more than a little dejected.

She rolled her eyes to cover her slight guilt. "Of course not!" she answered him with a sigh.

"Then who _do_ you think it was?" he persisted.

"Honestly? I haven't got a damn clue!" she admitted as she sneezed again. "The evidence hasn't helped me yet. But I'm hoping that I'm not going to have to guess and that eventually one of these accursed databases will give me an answer!"

"So what you're saying is that all you have to do now is wait for the results of the agency and then the results of the actual person?" McGee asked her hopefully.

"No, I was going to do a full tox scan on the blood samples from Ducky, just in case, and then I was going to have lunch with Kate, because it's a Tuesday," she replied. He just stared at her, so she explained. "Kate always brings me lunch on Tuesdays and then we eat in here and discuss cases and life and get into big debates, even if we're both on the same side..."

His face fell.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just going to ask you if you wanted to join me for lunch somewhere," he told her wistfully.

She sighed reluctantly; lunch with McGee sounded like a nice break from all of her problems and now mixed up emotions. He was only over protective and suspicious at work. Abby secretly suspected that he was either jealous of Gibbs, which made no sense, or else Gibbs had told him to keep an eye out for her. At the moment she was leaning more towards the later. "You're welcome to eat lunch with me, if you want," she offered. "But I'm warning you now- Kate and I talk about some things that most guys don't want to hear. I remember once, when Kate had just started working here, Tony came in and- Well, let's just say he learned his lesson about coming into the lab on Tuesdays at lunchtime..."

McGee shook his head with an amused smile and considered her offer. "Lunch with you and Kate in the lab sounds wonderful," he decided.

She grinned and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms behind her head and stared up at him for a moment. "Do you think I need a shrink?" she wondered as she studied him curiously.

"Who told you that you need a shrink Abby?" he asked quickly.

"Take a wild guess..." she muttered bitterly.

He thought a moment. "Gibbs?" he guessed.

"No, I might have actually considered the idea if it had been Gibbs- after all, he's my boss, I have to at least pretend to listen to him," she told him without thinking.

"Tony?" he tried again.

"If Tony told me that I needed a shrink, he wouldn't be out to lunch right now... And I don't think that he'd really like to be castrated anytime soon," she replied.

"Well, it couldn't have been Kate or Ducky," he reminded her.

"And what made you think that it could've been Gibbs or Tony?" she asked incredulously.

"Fine- I give up. Who was it?"

She spun her chair in a complete circle as she thought. "Weren't you here when my mother came?" she asked with a frown.

He sighed and his voice softened. "Is that what all of this is about?" He walked over to her and pulled her out of her chair. "Abbs, you can't let her get to you like this. I hate seeing you so miserable," McGee told her with a comforting hug.

Abby buried her head in his shoulder. "I hate her!" she muttered angrily. He held her close and began to absently stroke her hair. "I _hate_ her!" She sneezed loudly.

"It'll get better Abbs. You can't hate her forever," he reminded her as he gently kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah, but she actually _likes_ you!" Abby protested.

"Abbs, she's your mother. Whether she wants to or not, she _has_ to love you," he told her.

"I don't care if she's my boss! I hate her and she hates me," she screamed into his shirt.

"Abbs please don't yell. And she can't possibly hate you... It's impossible to hate you," he murmured soothingly in her ear.

She smiled half-heartedly. "Don't lie... I'm sure I could find someone else who hates me, if I really wanted to..." She quickly turned her head and sneezed three times in rapid succession.

"No you couldn't," he argued back with his arms still around her. "And you know that. But if you don't want to take my word for it, go and ask Kate or Gibbs or Tony or Ducky. I can guarantee you that they'll back me up, on this one, at least..."

Abby pulled out of his arms and looked up at him incredulously. "Why are we even having this conversation?" she wondered reasonably. She let out a disbelieving mix between a giggle and a snort.

"Abby we're having this conversation because I refuse to let the sun set on another day of you feeling miserable because you think people hate you," he informed her seriously.

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

"You don't believe me?" he asked as his eyes bored into hers.

"Well, it's not that it's your fault or anything, but I kind of have a hard time-" Abby assumed McGee had grown tired of her babbling when he cut her off by pulling her back to him and kissing her.

McGee let her go and she sneezed again. He frowned at her. "Abby, do you have a cold or something? That's the seventh time that you've sneezed since I got in here!"

"Well, I don't _feel_ sick... And I wasn't sneezing earlier!" she told him as she sneezed again.

"Abby let me take you to a doctor- or at least back to your house," requested McGee firmly.

"McGee, I'm fine and I don't need a doctor!" she protested. She was fine! And the only way she would ever leave work before six would be either in a body bag or while she was unconscious.

"Then let me at least take you back home..." he tried again.

"McGee, you know that the only two ways to get me to leave work early are to kill me, to knock me out or to threaten me with losing my job!" She paused and counted the reasons she had listed on her fingers. "That was three ways, wasn't it? Except that you can't really threaten to fire me because you're not Gibbs..."

"Then can I at least get you a drink?"

"No, Kate'll be here soon with our lunches. And besides, I'm not really thirsty," she protested.

"Abby, if you're sick you need to make sure that you drink lots of fluids. Let me go and get you some Sprite or something," he attempted.

"McGee, I'm not sick and I'm not thirsty! And you should go and get yourself something for lunch because Kate won't know that you're eating with us so she won't get you anything. And she always leaves at 11:30, which means that you literally just missed her," Abby enlightened him. She was feeling incredibly special though- McGee seemed to be genuinely concerned about her. Of course, technically, he was supposed to be, but that didn't guarantee that he always would be...

"Are you trying to get rid of me Abby?"

"Of course I'm not! But I really want to eat lunch with you and if you're not quick then Kate and I will have already finished our lunches. And while you'll still be welcome to eat in here with me, I won't be able to actually sit down with you while you eat because I'll have to get back to work and do my job. So if I were you- which I'm not- but if I was, I'd go and get something to bring back here. But I guess I can't really tell you what you- Well, you ought to go..." she advised, stopping herself before she ended up saying something offensive.

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as possible. Do you want me to bring you back something to eat?"

"McGee, Kate's bringing me lunch, remember? And we all know that I won't be able to eat two lunches! Of course, I know I'm going to regret not accepting your offer because, knowing my luck, Kate'll end up bringing me a salad," she rambled.

"Well, that settles it then- I'll bring you a Big Mac and a Sprite from McDonald's," he decided.

"Ew!" she yelped.

"What? What's wrong with McDonald's?"

"I don't eat Big Macs anymore... Not since I found out what was in the Special Sauce," she shuddered. "And I was kidding- Kate knows better than to bring me a salad. Salads are green, and I only ever eat green foods when my mother's comes because that's all she makes." Abby paused thoughtfully. "Do you think that's because she knows that I hate salad and I only ever eat it when she's here? Or do you think that that's all she knows how to make?"

McGee shrugged. "I don't know Abbs," he answered helplessly.

She grinned. "It was just a question," she informed him. "A _rhetorical_ question."

"Okay..."

Abby could tell McGee still didn't get it. "McGee, just go and get yourself some lunch."

He sighed and Abby knew she had won. "You're sure you don't want me to bring anything back for you?"

"Nope, but thanks for the offer."

McGee shrugged and left the lab. She watched him go with a sigh and wondered what she should do as she waited for Kate and McGee.


	13. Poor Unsuspecting Abby

**A/N: **Okay, the first person to guess who was kidnapped was xStarryEyedX; the first person to guess the kidnapper was (go figure...) cheezmunky; the first person to get the two together was sort of jtbwriter, only they guessed Abby or Kate; the first to guess them both right without hesitation was DryMartini... Congratulations you guys! And I know it took awhile to update... I'm sorry, I've been banned from the computer because of my grades (Oh no... I don't have straight A's... Whoop-di-doo...), so- naturally- I'll only be able to post on either Wednesdays/Thursdays, because that's the only time I get to be home alone. Oh, and the occasional Saturday night when my mother, Daddy, Adam, and Jodie all go out drinking. Anyways... I'll post when I can... Oh, and for those of you interested in Abby and Kate switching, my best friend, RogueX404 is planning to write that ficlet and post it soon. I'll give her a push for you gouys though, okay? Wow... That was a long message... Because you all put up with that, I think I'll post this chapter AND the next one... Don't you just love me? Okay, don't answer that. And Abbs? Thanks a bundle for not spoiling this one... ::huggles:: I love you!

Oh- and the Abby's mom thing? For my purposes (courtesy of a fic written- but not yet posted- by RogueX404), Abby's mother visited her at Headquarters awhile ago... Yeah

"Let's see..." she muttered to no one in particular.

She knew that there wasn't going to be enough time to even fully start a tox scan, so she began wandering slowly around her lab. As she passed by her microscope, she smiled. How many times had McGee snuck up behind her and scared her half to death while she was working on something critical to a case? Still, he always found _some_ way to make it up to her. She wandered to her desk and sat down. And how many times had Gibbs snuck up on her while she was sitting at her desk? Of course, when Gibbs snuck up on her, she was usually doing something completely pointless- at leas as far as her job was concerned. She opened the drawer with her desk lamp in it and debated whether or not to clean it out.

"What the hell am I thinking? I don't _clean_," she reminded herself.

She shoved the drawer shut and opened the drawer above it. Inside were all of the seemingly pointless nick-knacks that she owned. There was her gelatine stress ball; her flower 'fidget'; her ball of yarn; some Silly Putty; several large bags of assorted candy bars and 'fun-size' chocolate bars; a pile of rubber bands; her first attempts at the people to put on her model of Gallipoli...

She paused thoughtfully- where had that gone anyways? It wasn't at her house, and she couldn't remember ever even taking it out of the lab. So who- or what- had moved it? And why was it moved in the first place? And why was it suddenly such a big deal? She laughed at her craziness.

Then she spotted what she had opened the drawer for in the first place: her list. She quickly skimmed the first three pages before finding what she was looking for. She grinned and pulled up a file on her computer before realizing that she had already answered this supposedly unanswerable question. She sighed and replaced the ever growing stack of papers. She wanted to do something fast and easy that also had at least a little bit of science behind it.

She sighed and pulled out her aptly named 'fidget'. She couldn't even remember what it was really called now. All she knew was that it looked vaguely like a flower when she bought it and that it was fun to fidget with. Hence the term 'flower fidget'.

"Face it Abby, your dad was right... You're going to work yourself out of a job..." she sighed. "And then what will I do? I got out of mom's hell mouth for a reason, and I have no intentions of returning there ever again." With a sigh she put away the metallic object and stared at her desk.

And then she was greeted by one of her favourite scents in the world- food.

"Kate? Is that you?" Abby was actually hungry today...

"No, Abbs, it's Tony," replied Kate sarcastically. "Of course it's me! Who else were you expecting?"

"Well, I sort of invited McGee to eat with us. That's okay- right?"

"Well, I don't care. But I thought you were mad at him- weren't you?"

Abby shrugged. "It's all in my head. He's a nice guy."

Kate knelt at Abby's side with a brown paper bag from Applebee's. Abby grinned; Applebee's was one of her favourite places to eat!

"Thank God; I'm starving! Just promise me that you didn't get me a salad?"

"I'm not that heartless, am I?" Kate pulled out a carry out box and set it in front of her friend, along with plasticware and napkins.

"Nope!" Abby grinned as she opened the container and realized that Kate knew her a bit too well- she had brought Abby's favourite, Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo. "You rock Kate!"

Kate opened her salad daintily and looked at Abby from across the desk. "I know... Remind me why again?"

"Hecauw ooh owe whaw I whadidd do eehd," replied Abby with a mouthful of pasta.

Kate snickered. "Huh wuh wah, wuh wah?"

Abby grinned and swallowed her mouthful. "Exactly."

The two friends sat in companionable silence for several minutes- each one thinking of someone else in the building.

"I wonder where McGee is?" Kate immediately felt stupid.

"Hm; I was wondering the same thing. He probably got stuck during the typical D.C. lunch hour..."

"Probably. God, traffic here is really bad! If it weren't for the fact that I can't imagine working with anyone except you guys, I think I'd leave, but there's just no replacing you, Tony, Gibbs, Ducky or McGee."

"We-ell, you could replace me with McGee and-"

"Abby, please. McGee's good with computers, but he's nothing compared to you!"

"Whatever..."

"Abby, I swear, I'm going to get Gibbs if you don't at least just sit there and let me think you agree."

"But you know I-"

Kate gave Abby a very uncharacteristically Gibbs-like look.

"Wow, someone's trying to imitate the boss..." Abby ducked as Kate reached out to smack her friends lightly on the head.

"Abby, you know I'd never go out with Gibbs! I mean, he's nice, but-" Kate grinned. "He's more of your type than he is mine."

Instead of protesting, Abby just smiled knowingly. "Maybe so... But at least I didn't fall for DiNozzo."

"Abby! I- I didn't- I- I mean, I don't- Tony? No."

"Come on, like I'll tell anyone? Kate, it's no big deal. Hey, he's hot- in his own way- and... Well, he's Tony. You've got to love him!" Abby rolled her eyes. She knew Kate was the unofficial matchmaker at NCIS and she was well aware that, if Kate got her way, she and Gibbs would be dating by New Year's Eve. Why not do a little matchmaking of her own?

"But Abby- that's just it: He's hot and he's Tony. Those are two very bad characteristics. He's a player!" Kate sighed. "I'm ruined."

"Kate, he's not as bad as you're willing to believe. He's not really a player and-Okay, so he's Tony. So what? If he's in a serious relationship, he'll barely think about other girls. And when he does, he'll just come running to you. I know Kate- I was around the last time that he had a 'serious' girlfriend."

"I guess... I have to go Abbs." Kate threw her half eaten salad into Abby's trash can and walked out.

"Poor Kate," muttered Abby sympathetically as she swallowed her last bite of pasta. She tossed the now empty box on top of Kate's in trash can and sighed. "Well, back to work..." She rolled her neck in several full circles.

Abby was suddenly aware of a flashing taskbar at the bottom of her computer screen. She pulled it up and immediately regretted her decision. "No! No, no!" She stared at the screen in shock and quickly wrote several lines on a sticky note. This could not be happening- he had kissed her. And she had thought- well; she didn't know what she thought. But she certainly didn't mark him as a murder. And murdering a colleague? No way; no flipping way.

"Okay, calm down Abby. There has to be a logical explanation for all of this. So... Okay, here's what you're going to do. You're going to go and find him, even though he's been avoiding you, and you're going to tell him what the evidence says and you're going to make him explain how the evidence can be telling you this and-"

Abby froze as she heard the door to her lab open. She turned and relaxed. "Hey..."

"Hey Abbs, sorry I was late, I- Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine I just... I need to talk to Gibbs." She turned back to her computer, quickly copying all of the necessary information.

Suddenly, there was a sharp burst of pain in the back of her head and the world went black.


	14. Screwing It All Up

Kate walked to her desk, attempting to avoid the unwanted attention of her partner. She sat down at her computer and got to work, for once grateful that Tony hadn't acknowledged her presence.

"Hey Kate!" he greeted her suddenly, as though he had just noticed her.

"Hi Tony... Where's Gibbs?" Kate sighed; so much for avoiding unwanted attention.

"Lunch..."

"So then you're going on a diet?" Why did she say that? If Tony didn't want to eat lunch, then that was none of her business.

"Nah... I already ate. I convinced McGee to pick up McDonald's for me." Tony sounded incredibly proud of himself.

"Wait- McGee's back? But he was supposed to be joining Abby and me for lunch!"

Tony sighed knowingly. "Kate... Kate... Kate."

"What?" Oh God- she hadn't meant to snap at him.

Tony remained unfazed. "Well, think about it, no self respecting male is going to invade two girls eating lunch together. We know better."

The corners of Kate's mouth twitched slightly from her feeble attempt to suppress a smirk. "Oh really Tony?"

"Yes really!" She raised her eyebrows. "Okay, so I learned that lesson the hard way...?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Some people's children..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Come on Tony! You _slept_ in a canopy bed... _I_ slept in a canopy bed..."

Tony grinned. "Really? You sleep in a canopy bed?" His eyes glinted mischievously.

"Slept, Tony. I _slept_ in a canopy bed. Don't twist my words!"

He shrugged. "Sleep, slept- minor details. Either way, you were in a canopy bed."

This was one of the last things Kate wanted Tony thinking of- her lying on a canopy bed. "You're sick!" she muttered. She got up and moved to leave the bullpen.

"Aw, Kate- come back! I was just teasing!"

She ignored him and headed to the bathroom- the one place she knew that not even Tony could follow her to- leaving Tony staring after her.

Tony sighed and turned back to his computer. "Well, you really srcrewed that one up, DiNozzo."


	15. Let Go of My Abby!

**A/N: **Okay, it's Sunday, but I don't know if I'll be able to post. My family (everyone bu my sister and I) is out for dinner, and I don't know when they'll be back, because I didn't even know they were gone... So yeah. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! I'll give you a little hint... McGee's not working on his own...

Gibbs returned from lunch, bringing with him a large Mountain Dew, several candy bars and a well advised speech of apology. In order to avoid Kate and Tony, he had decided to park in the basement. All day he had been dwelling on their words.

"Just go and talk to her..."

"She's falling to pieces..."

"You know boss, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a thing for her..."

It was Tony's comment that had bothered him the most. Abby was his employee. _Just_ his employee- right? And yet, subconsciously, he knew that Tony was right. He did have a thing for Abby. Abby with her sharp wit, amazing intellect, unending knowledge of computers and manipulation; she was perfect- despite- or perhaps because of- her unorthodox methods.

And it scared him that he felt that way about her. It was a whole new vulnerability for him. And if Tony had figured it out- even if he was that only one to have done so- the best case scenario was that Kate, Ducky, McGee and Abby also knew; worst case scenario- it was all over Washington, D.C. and the internet.

Suddenly, he was interrupted from his musings by his cell phone ringing. "Special Agent Gibbs," he barked irritably.

"We've got her," came a cool voice on the other end.

"Yeah? Got who?" Gibbs entered Abby's lab, not in the mood to deal with a prank caller. And yet, something in his gut was telling him not to hang up- not yet.

He sighed- Abby's lab was dark and silent for the second time that day. Gibbs looked at his watch- it was nearly two o'clock. Abby wouldn't have gone home- it was too early, and she knew that if she wanted leave, all she had to do was ask- and she wouldn't be at lunch- today was her and Kate's weekly lunch... thing.

"A certain lab rat belonging to you..." The voice was strangely familiar to him... Who did it remind him of?

"Who the hell are you?" He debated hanging up as he finished his cursory search of Abby's lab. Nothing seemed to be wrong, except that the light was off, no music was playing and Abby was missing. What the hell did he mean 'nothing seemed to be wrong'? It couldn't have been any more wrong than this!

"You know who I am..." And suddenly, Gibbs knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, who had called him.

"Where is Abby? What have you done with her?" Gibbs was seething with rage. "I swear, if you hurt, you'll have a very pissed off Marine to deal with. I mean it- one bruise, and I'll kill you."

"Relax; your precious Abigail is fine." Gibbs could just picture the man sneering at Abby. "You have twenty four hours to find her uninjured. Thirty six hours later, she'll be dead. You do the math- you have precisely sixty hours from the second you hang up the phone unless you want to look for her corpse..."

Gibbs decided to play the sceptical boss, even though he was terrified- sixty hours to rescue the only person who could ever find a way to rescue the rest of her team members? It was a virtually impossible task. "How do I know that you actually have her, or that you haven't already killed her?"

There was a long and unnerving silence before Gibbs finally heard Abby's incredibly frustrated voice on his cell phone.

"Gibbs? Is that you?"

"Abby? Oh, thank God! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Gibbs was relieved to know that Abby was still alive.

"Gibbs, I only have two minutes, so- no offence-but I need you to shut up and listen to me, okay?"

"Abby, can you-"

"I don't have the _time_ for this! There are two things I need you to promise me... Do you promise?"

"Abbs, you know I'll do anything for you. Where are you?"

"I haven't got a clue- there's lots of trees. But that's not the point. First promise: There's a green pad of sticky notes on my desk, next to my computer. I need you to log onto my computer using my name and password, both of which are on the stick note, and open the file. Do you promise that you'll believe what it says?"

"Of course." Gibbs heard a low murmur and was desperate to get to Abby and make sure that no one so much as touched her.

"Okay, so promise two: You have to swear to me that you will not come looking for me. Do you understand?" Abby's tone of voice alerted him that she was definitely not kidding; it was the most serious he had ever heard her in a long time.

"Sorry Abbs, but there is no way in hell that I'm just going to leave you to die at the hands of terrorists." Was Abby out of her mind?

"Gibbs, you have to! If you come, it'll be playing right into their hands. You'll always be able to find a new lab technician, but imagine how screwed up the team would be with anyone but you as the boss!"

"Abby, I'm sorry, but I can not- _will_ not- just leave you there... where ever there is. They're going to _kill_ you! Doesn't that bother you?"

"Honestly? Only a little bit."

"Well, it bothers me- and I can guarantee that it will bother the rest of the team too. I'm coming to get you..." Gibbs wasn't sure how he would get there- but right now, that was a minor detail.

"No, Gibbs, you can't! I-" Her voice was suddenly much farther away. "No! Give me back that phone you insufferable-" Her voice was cut off after a fairly loud thud.

The voice came back on the phone. "There. You have your proof. Now I would advise that you do everything in your power to get her back before I lose my patience with her."

Gibbs forced himself not to growl into the phone. "Your battle is with me, not her- remember that. I'll be there..."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you'll be here. The question is, will you be here in time to save her life? Do not forget- all you know is that we are still within the vicinity of Washington, D.C. and, as Abigail has told you, there are trees."

Gibbs didn't wait to hear any more- he hung up his phone and sank into Abby's desk chair. He sat with his head in his hands for a moment before regaining his discipline and starting up Abby's computer.

**A/N: **Just out of curiousity, how many of you actually figured out that McGee was working for the terrorist? And, in case you missed that- McGee kidnapped Abby and then took her to Ari. Evil, huh? The last chapter of the entire story will actually have nothing to do with the story, it'll just be a list of reasons of why and how Abby and I got our theory about McGee working for Ari. I know it sounds crazy, (Hell, I thhought it was crzy. See, we were trying to figure out a reason for us to hate McGee, and Abbs made a silly comment about "Well, you never know... He could be working with Ari... Or something?" And then we started to see that it made sense...) but if you just hang on to the story, I promise you'll get our reasons. And we didn't twist anything from the show, however we did interpret it. And you can say that it must have been a mistake on Belisario's part, but consider this: He's the King of Twists and he rarely makes mistakes. So yeah... Think what you will!


	16. DiNozzo's Glare

**A/N:** Come on you guys, please review? I was two reviews away last chapter, but I decided that my loyal reviewers should be rewarded. Once again- I have a set number in my head, and this time, I want it reached. ::gives a Gibbs glare:: Don't you want them to find Abby? Because I can just stop posting, if you really want... Yeah, until you guys can convince me that you want more, I think I'll just stop posting. To those of you who really do review, I'm incredibly sorry- email me and perhaps I'll send you guys the next chapter...

"DiNozzo, pull me up a map of D.C. – now! I want every damn tree labelled on it!" Gibbs barked as he searched the bullpen for Kate. "And where the hell is Kate?"

"Dunno boss... About the map- isn't that more of Abby's area of expertise?"

"Don't you think if Abby was here to do it that I'd ask her to in a heartbeat?"

"So why don't you just call her in? Where is she?" Tony wondered what could possibly be keeping Abby from basking in her element.

"Well, Tony, that's what we've got to figure out. And we've only got twenty four hours before they hurt her..." Gibbs had decided not to worry his partners by verbalizing his secret fear that they had already done something to hurt her. But he was sure of one thing- he would not sleep until he had found Abby and she was sleeping peacefully in her bed with him guarding the door with his gun.

"Wait- Abby's gone? Why? And who exactly are 'they'?"

Just then, Kate walked in- feeling stupid for trying to avoid Tony. "What's this about 'they's?"

Gibbs sighed- this was not a conversation he wanted to have with Abby's best friend and her substitute younger brother. "Well, the 'they' is the terrorist and someone else, and they've kidnapped Abby. According to Ari, we only have twenty four hours to find her unhurt." Gibbs wasn't quite ready to finish off the threat- that would mean accepting the fact that Abby could die as truth- and he just couldn't face that yet.

Kate's face paled. "The terrorist has Abby? A- Are you sure Gibbs? I- I mean are you really sure? Couldn't he have been lying? O- Or something?" She had at least a vague idea of what Abby was going through. Hell, Ari had gotten to her twice- and both times he had proved to her, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he was a fucking sick bastard. She didn't want her best friend to experience the same thing she had. Oh, how Kate wished that Ari had come for her again; anything to make sure he didn't do anything to Abby.

"Regrettably Kate, there's no doubt in my mind that he has her."

Tony looked from a very determined and grim faced Gibbs to an almost in tears Kate and made an attempt to get himself back into her good graces. "But all you have to go off of is your gut, right?"

Kate gave him a grateful smile, though he noticed that her eyes lacked their customary sparkle which he had grown used to seeing.

"No Tony, I talked to her."

"You talked to her? I- Is she okay? Did he hurt her? Where the hell is she Gibbs?" Kate's eyes silently pleaded for answers from him.

"Sh, Kate- she's fine. I don't know where she is though..." He thought bitterly about Ari's last words...

"_Do not forget- all you know is that we are still within the vicinity of Washington, D.C. and, as Abigail has told you, there are trees._"

"As if I _could_ forget?" he muttered to himself.

"What?" Tony gave his boss an odd look.

"Nothing, I was just... thinking out loud." Gibbs wasn't going to tell Tony and Kate what about; there was no sense in worrying them.

Kate looked at Gibbs thoughtfully. "Hey Gibbs?"

"Yes Kate?" She had been awfully quiet for awhile.

"Well, you mentioned a 'someone else', didn't you? I don't suppose you could tell me what this guy or girl looks like? Or even what they sound like? Maybe I could give you more information... or something?" Kate didn't particularly want to revisit her last abduction by a terrorist, but if it would get Abby back...

"Kate, I can do better than that... I can you give you his full name, all previous and current employments, his girlfriend, a complete background, what he looks like, his current address, and many other things besides." This was probably going to be the hardest part...

"Boss, I'm not even going to ask how you figured out all of that information about a complete stranger."

"Well DiNozzo, that's just it; he's not a stranger- to any of us. And especially not to Abby." Gibbs watched his fellow agents' faces to see if he should continue his explanation.

Just as he was about to elaborate on his words, realization dawned in Kate's eyes. "Oh my God Gibbs, please tell me you're joking." She looked at him pleadingly. He wanted to tell her that this was all just a sick joke. Hell, he wanted someone to tell him that... But it was a lie; this was horrifyingly real. "But he... He- He helped her. He helped us! He helped you..." She was babbling incoherently, but she didn't care. The idea of the terrorist going after Abby and kidnapping her was plausible, but him? No way!

"Yes Kate, he did. Or so it would appear. And at some point or another we all trusted him, but does that really matter?" Gibbs could tell that Kate felt as guilty as he did for being so unobservant.

"Wait... You guys are talking about McGee, aren't you?" Tony had finally clued in on their conversation. At Gibbs' slow nod, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. "So what you're saying is that McGee kidnapped Abby and took her to the terrorist?" Gibbs nodded again. "And you think that McGee's working for the terrorist?" He nodded again. "You're crazy! And how did you get all of this anyways?"

"Phone call from Ari- he has Abby. She tells me to pull up the results from the bullet found in Carol's body- it came from McGee's bullet. Following logic- McGee killed Carol, Abby found out about it; McGee decided that he had to get rid of her." Tony raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You got a better reason for Abby telling me to pull up those specific results? She knew that even if I didn't figure it out, one of us would."

"Uh-huh... And you're sure that that was the message? I mean, come on boss, McGee's not exactly the brightest apple on the tree."

"Stop it, okay? Just- Just... Stop it!" Kate suddenly burst out as she stood up trembling. Tony could tell that she was close to tears and his initial reaction was to apologize, until he saw that she wasn't even looking at him.

Tony and Gibbs exchanged concerned looks. "Kate, what's wrong?" asked Tony. He had forgotten until just now that Kate probably knew exactly what Abby was going through, and he didn't want Kate to have to live through it again.

"What is Abby? Just another tedious case that we have to solve? Is that all it was with Ducky and me when we were held hostage in autopsy too? Or when he kidnapped me?" Suddenly Kate couldn't take it anymore; she started to sob and ran embarrassedly from her colleagues.

Tony glared at Gibbs before running off after Kate in the hopes of being some sort of source of comfort.

"No Kate..." whispered Gibbs softly. "No one's ever been 'just a case'."

Oh- a quick question for you guys. Do you want me to post another fic that I have? It's another evil McGee one, though he's not a terrorist. I don't know if I want to post it, so I decided to get your opinions. If I have at least 6 people say I should, then I will, otherwise, I won't. And this one is completely finished, so I'm not writing as I post... But that doesn't mean you'll get it all in one chunk. I think I'll post maybe- ah- one chapter a day? Or maybe every other day...


	17. Abby's Dilemma

**A/N: **Okay, okay you guys win. I'll keep posting. But what about my other evil McGee story? It'll be called The Rest is Up to You, in case you're interested, but so far only one person has said they want it. If I post it will it get read? Oh, and- just so that you know- it may have to be rated R, but I guess I could do a PG-13 version. Hm...  
Charmed-angel4: I know, I know- poor Abby. Especially now that you get to find out what's going on with her. Can you give me your email? Because when you put it in the review, it didn't say where at. I'm glad you like my fic!  
jtbwriter: I have a feeling that Tony will be quite supportive of Kate... ::ahem:: Yeah, and Gibbs is really more of the person who needs someone to tell him that it's okay to beupset. As for the GPS thing, I'm surprised... You figured something out. Only, it's not quite what you think...  
DryMartini: Wow, I'm proud of myself... Is this seriously your favourite NCIS fic? I feel special! I think that- just for you- I'm actually going to post the other one, okay? Your reviews make my day!  
cheezmunky: Sh- the next scene is a very Tate scene, okay? ::grins:: Just for you! Well, okay, not just you, but... And yes, McGee's a dweeb. ::glares:: Sorry, I'm over it.

Abby looked up at him incredulously. "You don't really expect me to eat this, do you?" He nodded. "What do you take me for? An unsuspecting child? Do I look like a child to you?" She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Like that? Yes, you do..." He saw her glare as more of a pout, which reminded him of his younger sister. "And I don't like children..."

"So I gathered. You don't much like me, Tony, Kate, Gibbs or even Ducky..." She paused thoughtfully. "Do you like _anything_?"

He ignored her and held out the sandwich again. "Eat," he ordered.

She clamped her jaw shut and shook her head stubbornly.

He sighed and set the sandwich down on the paper plate. "Gibbs is going to shoot me if he comes and you look like you haven't eaten the entire time you've been here."

"Gibbs isn't coming." Abby hoped that- for once in his life- Gibbs would actually take the advice of someone else, even though it was probably the opposite of what he wanted to do.

"You know he is..."

"Well then, if he does, don't you think he's probably going to shoot you either way?"

"Abby, would you just eat the damn sandwich? If not for us, then at least do it for Gibbs?"

Abby shook her head. She hoped that if she made it out of here alive or if she saw Gibbs before she died, that he would be proud of her for acting as stubborn as he often did.

"Do I have to get Ari in here?" He had now resorted to threatening her; not that he wouldn't carry them out.

She shrugged. "He'll have no better luck; I'll only make him mad, and you appear to be his scapegoat for the next twenty four hours." Abby had discovered that she really had a knack for pissing off Ari and it amused her to no end.

"Boss, she's still not eating..."

Abby felt immediate gratification in the evident aggravation of Ari's tone. "Let her starve herself then. Gibbs won't be able to blame us for her frailty. Give the sandwich to the Dobermans."

"I am not frail!" Abby yelled angrily. Then she shuddered- the Dobermans. She had tried to coax them lovingly onto her side in case she got the chance to escape. Of course, she had come away with a gnarled hand that still bled if she wasn't careful. Not that anyone had bothered to even make an attempt to stem the flow of blood or anything. She half-hoped that Gibbs _would_ come while she was still alive; she would love to see Ari at Gibbs' mercy. And no wonder- after everything the team had gone through because of him.

"Abigail, there will be no more comments from you until after you have eaten."

"Don't call me Abigail!" She was damned if she was going to let a guy with manicured nails boss her around. Hell, she didn't even have manicured nails.

Ari stormed into the room Abby was being held in, brandishing a knife. He came up behind her and carefully held the sharp end against her neck. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear? The only way you may keep you gag off is if you eat the sandwich and refrain from comments."

"You do realize that you can't hurt me, right?" She intended to use his every word against him for as long as she could. "I mean, what if Gibbs shows up within the twenty four hour time limit? You wouldn't want him to think that you weren't keeping your end of the bargain, would you?" Abby squirmed in her chair- as well as she could with rope tying her chest to the back of the chair, her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied to the legs of the chair. The blade of Ari's knife wasn't quite touching her skin, but she could feel the prickle of its presence.

"Gibbs won't be here within the twenty four hours... We've arranged for a sort of 'wild goose chase', as it were. But perhaps you're right... Why waste such precious blood?" He pulled the knife away from her throat and set in on the table in plain sight. "However, when the allotted twenty four hours are over- rest assured- I shall have my fun." He stood and took the knife from the table. At the door to the only other room in the small log cabin- besides the bathroom- Ari paused and looked at her, an odd gleam in his eye. "Take a look around you Abigail... Even if he _does_ make it here in time, you'll never escape together. One or both of you would die in the process." He gave her a triumphant half grin and half smirk. "I'll let you in on one last secret before you die. Gibbs believes that once I have him, you'll be free to leave. But I have no intentions of releasing you. Enjoy your stay." And with that, Ari walked into his room and shut the door, leaving Abby to her thoughts.

Abby sighed. She had already come to terms with the fact that she would die in this cabin. For the most part, she had even lived a happy life; not a perfect one, of course, and there were many things that she regretted but- all in all- she was as ready as she was ever going to be. But they were using her to get to Gibbs. Gibbs, who would probably never be able to have the same assurance as she did in the face of death itself. Knowing Gibbs, he would dwell on every cold case, regret just about every emotion, wish he knew something about everything and attack himself for 'being too late'. Abby couldn't bear the last thought. This was her fault- if only she had been smarter...

"Abby!"

She shook herself as she noticed the sandwich in her face again. She looked at it sceptically. "You've poisoned it, haven't you?"

"Well, I thought about it, but I decided that it was better to stick with the timeline. Besides, Ari promised me that I could have my fun too."

"You sick bastard! No wonder no one liked you. Hell, not even _Ducky_ liked you! At least I gave you a chance!"

"As I knew you would. Perhaps one of these days you'll learn that you can't trust anyone. Well, only if Gibbs provides some miraculous means of escape, of course."

"What do you mean you knew I would?" Abby had never thought that she was _that_ transparent.

"I watched you day in and day out for almost four years Abby. I knew what kinds of men you dated. And yet, I was also aware of your feelings for Gibbs- long before you were. In fact, I would say that I know you almost knew you as well as I know myself."

Abby was horrified- with him and herself. "Y- You watched me?"

"Yes. It was rather boring, but I did learn at least one thing. You really are a lot like me."

Abby wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I hope to hell that I am _nothing_ like you. I hope I never _become_ anything like you..."

"Think what you will..."

"Oh, I plan to..." He shoved part of the sandwich into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then grinned and spat it onto his face. "That one was for the team- as a way of acknowledging that they were right about you, and I was wrong... Very wrong..."


	18. Well, it's about time you two!

**A/N: **Okay, this is definitely a TATE fan's favourite part of my story... I had to put it in! It took up an entire chapter, and my friend Kate (yes- really. Her name is Kate... and yeah, there's a Tony too. They're both Tate fans... hm... Kate, I know what you say, and I'm sorry! I love you!) made me put it in. By the way, we're going to be back on the Wednesday/Thursday postings again, at least for this week and next week. After that? I hope we'll be okay! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! And to those of you reading The Rest is Up to You- thanks for all those reviews in one night! I'm typing up Chapter 2 now- if I don't get caught on here, it'll be up tonight. I know, I'm mean to poor Abbs, but I swear, she's really my favourite character. It's just that everyone does stuff to everybody else, so- naturally- I have to pick on her. Because- hello- character developement! Anyways, now that I'm done babbling (well, on the computer... In my head? Not a chance! But I'll spare you!)

Tony headed in the direction that he had seen Kate heading. Just ahead of him, he could hear sobs echoing from what appeared to be the girls' bathroom. "Great," he muttered. "Just great..."

He reached the door and knocked softly on it. "Kate?"

She was sobbing loudly, but apparently she heard him anyways. "Go away Tony." She sniffled loudly but quickly muffled her sobs.

"Kate, I just want to talk to you." Tony knew it wasn't his fault- or his fault entirely- that she was crying, but he couldn't help feeling bad for Kate. If he knew Gibbs as well as he thought he did, he was going to make Kate relive every second of what she went through. And yet, Tony knew Kate well enough to know that that wasn't what scared her the most. He knew that what was scaring her was the fact that her best friend had been kidnapped and was now under the threat of death. Of course Gibbs hadn't admitted that- but he and Kate were both well aware of what the terrorist would do.

"I don't need to talk to you." Kate's voice was hoarse and he decided to forget the fact that he was going to be in so much trouble for what he was about to do; for once in his life, it didn't matter.

Tony opened the door to the girls' bathroom, hoping that there were no other girls in there except for Kate. He hadn't known what he expected to see, but it definitely wasn't Kate huddled in the corner under the sink with her arms wrapped around her knees and her face buried in her arms. "Kate?"

She refused to allow herself the embarrassment of meeting his gaze. "Leave me alone."

"Alone? No one wants to be alone..." Well, Tony sure didn't want to be alone- hell, he cared about Abby too!

"I do..." she whispered softly.

"No, you don't. Come on Kate; will you at least look at me?" Tony sat down under the sink next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Kate?"

"Please just go."

"Sorry Kate, but I can't do that..." She didn't respond. "Kate, if you won't look at me, will you at least listen to me please?"

"Do I honestly have a choice?"

"Honestly? No, not really..." He rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "Kate, Gibbs is a bastard. There's no denying that. But he _does_ care Kate."

She sniffled softly, but her sobs were slowing down, which he took to be a good sign.

"Tony, how can he care when all that he sees it as is another case he has to solve? I mean, I felt like he was briefing me on a suspect I was about to have to interview. And it was just like- just..."

"Like he never really seemed to let it affect him?"

Kate lifted her head off of her arms. "Yeah."

Tony saw Kate's tear-stained cheeks and scooted so that he was sitting in front of her. "Kate, it affects him. He's just trying to think it through using his logic, but if I know Gibbs, that's not going to last too long unless he can get someone to give him a plan of action. He's aching to do something, and if he can't find anything, then he'll take it all out on us." Tony paused thoughtfully. "Do you think you can find a way to at least keep him busy?"

"Tony!"

He reached out and wiped the trails of black mascara from under her eyes. "That's not what I mean. I meant, could you think of some way to let us at least think that we're doing something pertaining to getting Abby back..." He let his hand linger on her cheek. "Come on Kate, you know that that's everyone's top priority- especially Gibbs'."

"He never even got to tell her that he was sorry for avoiding her..." She trailed off and stared into space. Tony was afraid that he was about to lose what little ground he had just gained.

"Well now- we can't have that happening, can we?"

She made a vague attempt at a smile; she knew he was trying his best to cheer her up, which had to count for something, right? "No, I don't suppose we can... After all, Gibbs would never forgive us if we let him get away with that one, would he?"

"He sure as hell wouldn't!"

Kate's face fell. "So how are we going to find her?"

"I don't know Kate..." Apparently not even his slight joking hadn't helped quite as much as he had hoped it would. He suddenly looked around them and remembered where they were and that they had left Gibbs alone in the bullpen. "But I don't think sitting under a sink in the girls' bathroom is helping us to make much progress."

"No, I guess not..." she admitted, making no attempt to get up.

"Shouldn't we go and find Gibbs? Maybe we can be of some assistance?" Tony stood up- taking great care not to hit his head on the counter- and held out a hand for her.

"Maybe..." She still just sat under the counter.

"Okay Kate, come on, up you get..." He crouched down and pulled her gently to her feet, making sure that she didn't hit her head either.

She stood uncertainly in front of him for a moment before shuddering. She started to shake uncontrollably and he looked at her, full of concern. "Kate?"

She could hear him calling her name, but his voice was far away... So far away, and she was falling. He lunged for her, but it was too late. "You're too late!" she tried to scream, but suddenly the world went black.

"Kate? No! Kate!"

Kate opened her eyes slowly. Everything was hazy, like a dream. Her eyes focused on Tony, who was holding her in his arms with a very worried expression on his face. Yeah, she was definitely dreaming. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on how it felt to have Tony gently stroking her cheek.

"Kate, are you awake?" She heard him sigh. "Come on Kate, I want to know what happened..."

She forced her eyes open again. "Tony?" she whispered groggily.

"Sh... It's okay... What happened?"

"I don't know I just- I- What _did_ happen, exactly?"

"Kate, you collapsed..."

"Really? A- Are you sure? Because I-" She blushed as she realized that she was babbling more than Abby usually did, which set her off into tears again.

"Kate, please don't cry." Tony was frantic; anger, frustration, helplessness and other similar emotions he could deal with, but he was at a loss when she started to cry.

"I'm sorry... I just realized I was babbling more than Abby, which lead to a thought about how she really has been rubbing off on me, which lead to 'Oh God, what if I never see her again?' And- Damn it, were going to find her!" She sat up, a bit too quickly, for she soon realized she was dizzy again.

But dizzy was something Tony could handle. He steadied her with his arm around her shoulders again. "Kate, there's no rush... You'll be of more use to us if you're not collapsing as we attempt to rescue Abby."

"Tony, I just had a thought! I still remember exactly where Ari took me to the last time when he kidnapped me... What if we went there? Maybe that's where he has Abby? Or- at the very least- maybe we'll find some clue as to where Abby is?"

Tony looked down at her incredulously.

"Okay, it was a dumb idea, I know but-"

"Kate, have I ever told you that you're the most amazingly brilliant person I know?"

She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

He chuckled softly as he tugged on the ends of her hair. "If nothing else, it'll be a way to occupy Gibbs..."

"I guess so, but I don't think that-" She looked at him, suddenly grasping what he had said to her. "You think I'm brilliant?"

"Amazingly brilliant, brilliantly amazing... You can take your pick."

They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. "Tony, you're making me nervous..." she admitted hesitantly.

He grinned and pulled her to him, staring into her eyes the entire time. "Kate, you're absolutely gorgeous."

And with that, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo kissed Special Agent Caitlin Todd in the girls' bathroom at NCIS headquarters.

3


	19. The Wrath of Ducky

**A/N: **Wow, apparently my threat of discontinuation was taken seriously. As it should have been- Abby, Kate, Tony, Lee and Kay would've been able to finish reading it, and they're the only ones who can physically thwack me. Anyways, I really appreciate the reviews! Please read my other story (it's complete... I just have to type it all up... ::sigh::). I promise to post it all! Just like this one (I'm on Chapter 25... Yay! Of course- it's not typed...) I really ought to try to TYPE all of my updates... Oh well. In any case, I have the rough draft of my literary analysis on The Tragedy of Julius Caesar due in my World Literature class tomorrow, and- of course- I haven't even really started it! Yeah, I know- I'm a procrastinator. And yet I have straight As... Except for History- I have a C... I suck at history, all of the names sound the same to me! But as long as I keep a C, I can get into my choice college and move onto the NCIS Crime Lab.! No, I'm not joking, that's seriously where I plan to work. If you really care, you can visit my blog or email me... Whatever. Anyways, now that I'm done babbling, I go off to seek out Julius Caesar and all of his assassinators. And, maybe when I'm done, I'll type up things! Whoowt!

Gibbs was sitting restlessly at his desk when Kate finally returned from wherever she had been, with Tony following close behind her. He was tempted to ask where they had been, what they had been doing and what they were thinking about as he had tried to concentrate on his work, while still remaining very worried about Abby and her condition. But he knew better than to ask; he didn't want to set Kate off again.

Tony shot Gibbs a glare, before looking back at Kate with a worried look. Gibbs really wanted to know what had happened, so he decided to ask anyways. After all, Kate and Tony already thought of him as a cold and heartless bastard- why not keep up the ruse? "DiNozzo, what the hell is going on?"

Tony gave Kate a sympathetic look; "I told you..." he mouthed to her.

She rolled her eyes at him. It didn't seem like Gibbs cared, but he sure as hell was being a bastard. Still, she soon discovered that she couldn't blame him. After all, it was Gibbs, and he liked Abby, so he was definitely going to take this harder than all of the rest of them combined. And, because it was Gibbs, he would take it all out on them because he didn't know what else to do. Oh well- at least she had Tony. A week ago- hell, an hour ago- that thought wouldn't have been anything near comforting, but now it was the most amazing thing ever. Oh the irony...

"DiNozzo? Hey- Tony... Pay attention!"

Kate smirked at him, knowing all too well that he hadn't heard Gibbs because he was 'otherwise occupied'- because of her. Tony shook himself slightly, giving Kate a glare, both for her smirk and because it had been her who distracted him... "Sorry boss, I was just-"

"Drooling over Kate? So I noticed..." Gibbs acted as though he couldn't see the look Kate was giving him.

"I wasn't drooling!"

Kate groaned. "Oh the people I put up with..."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well, we've got Tony the Skirt Chaser-"

"Hey!"

"We've got you the Marine... And we've got Ducky who's just... Well, Ducky..."

"What about me Caitlin?" Ducky chose that moment to appear in the bullpen, a very unusual event, but one that they all welcomed. Ducky turned to Gibbs. "Jethro, have you seen Abby recently? She was supposed to be doing a full tox. scan on the blood from Carol's body... I was wondering if she was at another of her parties..."

Tony, Kate and Gibbs all looked at each other helplessly. Sure, the three of them had taken this exceptionally hard, but imagine how Ducky would react? After all, Abby was like the daughter he never had. Kate and Tony looked away quickly, hoping that Gibbs would get the message and realize that they had decided that this was his job.

Gibbs sighed loudly. "Duck, she's gone..."

Ducky frowned. "Gone where exactly Jethro?" He gave Gibbs one of his exceptionally rare looks that warned him not to mess around. Kate had never seen Ducky with a more deadly look on his face.

"Ducky, she was kidnapped... By McGee, who took her to the terrorist." Gibbs clenched his fists at his sides as he tried not to think about what the terrorist was probably doing to Abby.

"Abby was kidnapped?"

Gibbs nodded.

"By McGee?"

He nodded again.

"And McGee took her to the terrorist?"

"Yes..." Gibbs hoped that Ducky wouldn't blame this on him... He had already established that one on his own.

Kate had never really even seen Ducky get annoyed, so when a look of pure hatred and fury appeared on Ducky's face, combined with clenched fists identical to Gibbs', she was scared to even breathe, never mind move.

"Jethro, why are the three of you just sitting here instead of going out there and attempting to find her?" Ducky began pacing the floor looking angrily at his feet.

"Duck, there's nothing we can do right now... We have no clue where she is- if we did, you know I'd be there in a heartbeat. We were just about to formulate a plan."

Gibbs looked pointedly at Kate and Tony, silently pleading with them to help him, if only just this once.

Kate spoke up, trying hard not to let Ducky scare her. Tony gave her an encouraging smile and she took a deep breath. "Gibbs, couldn't we go to where Ari took me? I know I could get you there, if I just had the chance and-"

Ducky looked at her, as though only just realizing that Gibbs wasn't the only one he was talking to. "Kate, we can't ask you to do that..." Ducky chastised her gently.

Kate was glad that she hadn't had the wrath of Ducky turned on her. "Ducky, I want to...I want to help find Abby! I don't care what it takes."

Ducky was taken aback. "Kate, no one said you would care... But do you really think that that will be necessary?"

"Well, do you have a better plan?"

Ducky looked at her sympathetically. "No, I don't..."

Gibbs decided that now was a good time to interrupt. "Ducky, if this is what Kate wants to happen, it's her choice."

Tony and Ducky exchanged exasperated looks. Would Gibbs ever learn?

"However," continued Gibbs. "She will most definitely not be coming with me..."

Kate gave him a look that was a mix between horror and disbelief. "Oh yes I am... How else do you plan to get there?"

"Kate- you, Tony and Ducky are going to stay here. You can give me directions..."

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I'm coming with you!"

Tony saw this as his moment to intervene. "Kate, honey, I think you should listen to Gibbs..." He gave her a please-don't-hit-me look.

She turned to glare at him. "No way! I'm going to go too!" She faced Gibbs. "I'm coming!"

"Kate, as your friend and your boss, I have to insist that-"

"No way; no way in _Hell_!" Kate was getting frustrated with him. "If you won't let me come, I'll never tell you where it was."

Gibbs looked at Tony and Ducky for help, silently pleading for one of them to intervene.

Tony moved towards Kate and looked her squarely in the eyes. "Kate, stay here..."

She shook her head defiantly and Tony whispered something in her ear that not even Gibbs could hear.

She sighed dejectedly. "Fine... I'll stay... But I swear, so help me God, if you get hopelessly lost and Ari does something to Abby, I will never ever forgive you." She glared at Gibbs.

Gibbs knew better than to retort, so he just nodded solemnly. "Kate, I'm leaving in ten minutes, can you write directions for me?"

She nodded, still at least vaguely annoyed with Tony for using her own feelings against her.

Gibbs got up and headed for the elevator.

"Hey boss? Kate didn't give you the directions yet... You just going to wing it?"

"Yeah, thanks DiNozzo, but I'm going to get some things from Abby's lab..."

"Oh... right."

Gibbs turned back to the elevator and shook his head before getting in and descending to the last place he wanted to be... Abby's lab.


	20. Sock Drawers

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. See, my parents took away my CPU (central processing unit... the thing that stores all of the information ona computer) and I hadn't actually written Ch. 20- I only typed it. And I couldn't- for the life of me- remember what in the _hell_ happend! And anyways, it was on this CPU... So, because I was all evil, I stole my CPU back from my parents... They don't know, so SHHHH. Oh, by the way, this is about to get interesting... Really interesting. I got hit several times for the next few chapters, and it hurt...

Ducky stared momentarily after Gibbs. "So Jethro… It has come to this." He stood there a moment later, shaking his head, before heading back down the stairs to the autopsy lab.

Kate turned angrily to Tony. "_You_ are _insufferable_!" He looked at her with wounded puppy dog eyes, which only served to infuriate her further. She started to tremble.

Tony looked at her and quickly grabbed his desk chair, running over and sliding it underneath her. He looked down at her trembling form and sighed. "Kate, relax and breathe…" She sat defiantly in his chair and crossed her arms. "Kate, relax…" he whispered soothingly in her ear as he gently rubbed her shoulders. "Relax…"

"Tony, don't you dare-" She sighed happily. "Stop…"

Tony grinned. "Was that a 'Tony, if you don't stop, I'm going to castrate you'? Or was that an 'Oh God, Tony, please don't ever stop'?"

She reached back and thwacked him on the back of his head.

He took one hand off of one of her shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. "Holy shit Kate! That hurt like _hell_!"

She looked at the floor with mock sheepishness. "Whoops…"

He frowned, even as he began rubbing her shoulders again. "Funny, I didn't really sense any remorse in your reply."

"Yeah, well, I thought about trying to make an attempt at sounding convincingly apologetic, and- according to Abby- it really _is_ the thought that counts." She sighed miserably. God, she really missed Abby!

Tony knew the reason for Kate's sudden silence and he gently pushed her over to his desk. "Hey Kate, please don't worry, okay?" He pulled out a pen and paper, setting them carefully in front of her. "I promise, we are _going_ to find her…"

"Tony, you know you can't promise me that…" She picked up the pen and started scrawling directions anyways.

He sighed and returned to rubbing her shoulders and neck.

She smiled, but continued to write, pausing every now and then to read over her instructions. She moaned softly. "That feels really, _really_ good Tony."

He grinned. "Keep writing…"

She turned her head to face him, a mixed expression of hurt and confusion on her face.

"Kate, if you don't have those directions ready for Gibbs the second that returns from where ever the hell he is, he'll make you go down to autopsy and listen to Ducky ramble. And, judging by Ducky's mood, it'll either be him telling you all about every single time that Gibbs could have- and should have- done something, before it was too late, or else he'll go off on all kinds of torture methods used by terrorists." He paused to look at her. "And I'm sensing that neither of those topics is particularly appealing to you at the moment."

She sighed and looked back at the paper. "No, they really aren't…" She scribbled the final line with a flourish and turned back to Tony. "Just for the record, I'm really glad it didn't take something this big for you."

"Didn't it? Ari held you hostage twice _and_ had to take Abby before it finally clicked."

It didn't quite register in Kate's mind that this meant that Tony had liked her for almost as long as she had liked him. "Okay, but _I_ was never in any _real_ danger…" She gave him an encouraging attempt at a smile.

"Kate, the first time he had you, he locked you in a freezer!"

"Oh, come on. Someone would have eventually figured it out!"

"Yeah, after you and Ducky had been turned into ice cubes!"

Gibbs chose that moment to walk in. "Um, I think I've missed something. What's all of this about Kate and Ducky turning into ice cubes?" Gibbs turned to Kate. "You'll have to forgive me for not letting you off of work Kate, as you look nothing like an ice cube to me and I highly doubt if your body temperature is the same as one. But, just to be on the safe side, perhaps DiNozzo should check?"

Tony gave her a slow, lingering look. "I don't know boss… It looks to me like she's pretty damn hot, but that's just my personal opinion."

Gibbs looked from Tony to Kate and then back to Tony. He got it. "So Kate… The Unseducable has finally met her match. I was wondering how long you could really resist the infamous DiNozzo charm."

"No, Gibbs, Tony didn't- I mean, we would never- What the hell do you mean 'the Unseducable'? I've been seduced plenty of times! And by guys much sexier than Tony too!"

Tony gave her an alarmed look, and she grabbed his hand under his desk, hoping that Tony would understand without Gibbs calling her bluff.

"You think I'm sexy?" he asked her with a grin, knowing exactly what she meant.

Kate grinned back and opened her mouth to respond, a fresh retort begging to be released.

Gibbs held up a hand to stop her. She gave him a puzzled look. "Rule number eleven: Don't ask, don't tell… Now, where are those directions Kate? I hope you weren't too wrapped up in other things to do your job."

Kate glared and chucked Tony's yellow legal pad at her boss. "You know Gibbs; I've got my own set of rules. Rule number one: Never let your personal life interfere with your job."

Gibbs chuckled and bent down to pick up the notepad. "Maybe so… But when the two collide, so much the better, right?"

Kate glared at him as he turned to the elevator to leave. "Ah, what the hell do you know anyways?"

Tony looked at Kate and grinned. "Sexy, huh?"

She tugged her hand free of his and headed for her own desk. "Oh, put a sock in it DiNozzo…"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "Is it one of your socks?"

"Tony…" She sat down at her desk, but that was the extent of her efforts to even attempt to appear as though she was doing something productive.

Tony slid his chair across the bullpen and settled down behind Kate's desk. "You know Kate, I don't think I've ever seen you wear socks. Do you even own a pair?"

"Yes, of course I do!"

He leaned closer to her and put his lips at her ear. "Really? Why don't you tell me about these… socks?"

She spun her chair around and their heads nearly collided. "Oh, for Heaven's sake Tony, either you have some weird fetish for socks, which- by the way- I have no desire to hear about, or else we're not talking about the same socks."

"Actually, none of the above, from your sock drawer I was going to go to your underwear drawer and from _there_-"

She held up a hand. "This conversation is now officially _over_!"

"Aw, Kate, come on. We were bonding!"

"Well Tony, I never 'bond' like that before the first date."

"So? We could call it our third date… Or we could _make_ it our first date…" He grinned seductively.

"Tony, you can't seriously be that desperate… Go pick up some poor unsuspecting girl at the mall."

"When you're sitting right in front of me with your cute little nose barely two inches away from mine? I can think of better things to do…" He closed the distance between his mouth and hers. "And, just in case you were wondering, I wasn't talking about that kind of bonding…"

"Huh… Really Tony?" Kate gave him a skeptical look. "All you ever think about is bonding."

3


	21. Impending Doom

**A/N:** Okay,I know I've been behind with this one. I'm sorry everyone! Thanks to everyone who keeps pushing me for more, LOL. Anyways, thanks for putting up with me... Here you all go. Please review, or there will be no more!

With just under eighteen hours left on his deadline, Gibbs finally pulled his black Dodge Intrepid quietly into a long gravel driveway. Stones crunched almost noiselessly under his tyres. Although the most important thing on his mind was getting to Abby, he was still taking the necessary precautions to ensure that he would not be caught. Halfway down the drive, he spotted a large willow tree. A strange silhouette was vaguely outlined underneath it. Thinking that he would park his car there, out of sight in the rapidly dwindling sunlight, and then quickly determine what was there before rushing in to save Abby. Of course, that was assuming that she was actually in there, and Gibbs had a nagging feeling that she wouldn't be. Still, he was more than willing to check it out if there was even the slightest chance that she would be there.

He turned slowly under the willow tree and parked next to what turned out to be another car. He carefully opened his car door and shut it behind him, being doubly sure not to make too much noise as he did so. As he noticed that the sky was getting increasingly darker, he was thankful that he had remembered his flashlight. Gibbs flicked it on and directed it towards the car.

His heart leaped at the sight of another Dodge Intrepid. With a frantically hopeful glance at the licence plate, he confirmed what he had already suspected. The car belonged to no other than his very own Abby Sciuto. His breath caught in his throat and it was all he could do not to burst into the old, rust coloured and abandoned farmhouse.

Gibbs slowly shined the flashlight inside of her car. By its pale yellow light, he slowly searched her car for any traces of her body, bracing himself for the worst. When the soft glow revealed nothing other than Abby's typical CD collection and her purse, Gibbs pulled open the door on the driver's side and climbed in. He wasn't worried about leaving prints or anything. They had countless prints from both Ari and McGee, and it did them no good, especially when Abby was missing.

As he sat in her seat and shut the door behind him, he was met with the unmistakable scent that could only be attributed to Abby. There was a lingering scent of gunpowder, which under any other circumstances would have worried him. As it was, gunpowder was Abby's trademark scent, along with a more subtle scent of roses. Abby was one of kind, there was no denying that. He sat in her chair, wondering how long it had been since she was in it. As he ran his fingers along the soft, black leather, he wondered if it was anything like as soft as her skin. Her scent was soothing in the confined space; almost as though he could sense her presence reassuring him that she was alive and unhurt.

"Oh Abby," he whispered softly. "What will it take before I can get you back in your lab where you belong?"

He smiled at the neatly symmetrical stacks of CDs, before suddenly noticing that one was missing from one of the stacks. After doing a cursory scan of the car, he leaned down and reached under her front seat. His fingers brushed against something soft and cottony. With a puzzled sense of curiosity, he tugged on the clothing. As he gently placed the neatly folded shirt and skirt on his lap, he found himself wondering why Abby kept extra clothes in her car. He carefully unfolded the shirt and decided it would be safer, not to mention smarter, not to ask. Gibbs suddenly recognized the shirt and stared at in disbelief. Unless he was very much mistaken, which he rarely ever was, this was the same shirt Abby had been wearing at work earlier that day. As for the skirt, he couldn't believe it had taken him so long to recognize it. Unless Abby had two identical skirts, she had been wearing this earlier. He held the shirt up to his nose and breathed in softly. It smelled strongly of Abby's unique scent, and he knew that he could not let himself lose her.

Gibbs glanced at the suddenly ominous and foreboding farmhouse. In the virtually non-existent light, it seemed to radiating a sinister yellow glow like the ones used in the movies to backlight demons. Gibbs had learned at a very young age to fear nothing but fear itself, but now he was terrified of what he might find. Still, the only thing left to do was go inside and hope he found Abby there, alive and unharmed.

He opened her door quietly, still feeling hopeful that she was waiting inside for him. As he shut it carefully behind him, the faint outline of a man could be seen fumbling in the sudden darkness. Gibbs quickly dropped flat by the car and crawled underneath it, hoping he hadn't been spotted.

The man turned quickly and Gibbs was sure that he had made some sort of noise or had been spotted. Whoever it was stared long and hard at the willow tree. Gibbs held his breath as though that would make him less likely to be seen. Just when Gibbs thought he could hold his breath no more, the man abruptly turned and walked off into the woods.

Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out from under Abby's car. He brushed himself off and pulled the leaves and twigs from his hair. As he pulled out a twig and received a slight burst of tingling, he remembered the real reason he was there in the first place. Abby could possibly be inside of there and being tortured. Every minute he wasted out here was another minute of intense agony for Abby.

As silently as possible, Gibbs withdrew his gun and crept towards the farmhouse. By now, the moon was up and lighting the grounds all too brightly. Gibbs had been hoping for a bit of an overcast night to cover him. As it was, he had to dart from shadow to shadow.

While he desperately wanted to march right up to the front door and demand that Abby was released to him, Gibbs knew better than to attempt an attack such as that. He would only set himself up to get stuck there with her, and by the time Kate and Tony figured out what had happened, it would be too late. He had adamantly refused to have either of them along for backup, claiming that this was something he had to do on his own.

As he found himself almost wishing that he had brought someone with him, Gibbs suddenly found himself at the very back of the farmhouse. He saw the lights on inside and hoped that that meant Abby was in there somewhere. Kate had said that the actual house was well furnished and he hoped that Abby was comfortable. If she wasn't, there would be Hell to pay.

He snuck to the back door of the actual barn and kicked it open, making a loud splintering noise. The door opened slowly, almost like a scene from an obscure horror movie. Inside the barn, Gibbs saw nothing but the inky-black darkness, which threatened to swallow him whole if he dared to enter.

With no hesitations and a fresh image of Abby in his mind, Gibbs moved quickly from the well lit night and into the complete darkness of the barn. The door closed ominously behind him, as if it was sealing his fate.


	22. Unforgettable

**A/N:** All I have to say is that, right now, I'm incredibly annoyed. I'm sorry if any of my anger or anything is reflected in this.

**This chapter is dedicated to my best friend in the entire world. Abby, I love you! **

**

* * *

**

**Previously:** Gibbs kissed Abby, which has caused him to avoid her. During this child-like 'hide and seek', NCIS finds a dead body just down the hall from Abby's lab. Gibbs is still taking every precaution to avoid his lab rat. Abby goes missing after finding a crucial piece of evidence. Gibbs feels as though it's his fault, as she was still trying to get back into his good graces. Still, thanks to Abby's notes, the team soon discovers who their culprit was both in Carol's death and Abby's kidnapping. McGee pulled it all off and is working with an old nemesis from Season 1, a certain Dr. Ari Haswari. Gibbs gets a call from Ari and is told he has a total of 60 hours to find Abby alive, but only 24 of them will guarantee her unharmed. When we last left Gibbs, he was entering the impending darkness of the barn where they kept Kate in "Reveille".

* * *

Gibbs' eyes quickly adjusted to the dark even as the door shut noiselessly behind him. He fumbled for a moment in an attempt to pull his small penlight out of his pocket. Taking extra care to keep his keys from jingling, he shone the small light around to get his bearings. There was the door he had just come in, along with two others. He searched his memory for a description of the surroundings and the placements of the buildings and decided the door directly in front of him was the right one. After burning the image into his memory, he put the light away, determined not to give himself away.

After listening intently and hearing nothing but his own quiet and shallow breathing, Gibbs crept noiselessly to the door. It had a finely polished brass handle that would easily reveal prints, with or without printing powder. He found his instincts taking over as he pulled the tiny light back out of his pocket. He knew exactly who he was up against and he had both of their prints on file. If he could get prints from the scene it would be much easier to convict them in court. As he shone the light onto the door, his hopes crashed. McGee and Ari were much too smart for that sort of thing; the handle had been wiped clean. He almost put the light away again, but thought better of it. As he drew in a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever could be waiting for him behind the door, he cursed his stupidity.

He was unsure of how long he crouched by the door and it was of no concern to him. All he knew was that he had waited far too long. He turned the handle slowly and quietly. As he pulled the door open inch by inch, it dawned on him that it was dark inside too. He vaguely wondered if he had been set up, but shrugged the thought away quickly. If he had been set up, Ari was just going to have to deal with him being even more pissed off. Besides, Gibbs suspected that the whole reason Abby had been taken was to lure him to them. That was fine by him, as long as they let her go.

He inched his way into the adjoining room, which turned out to be a kitchen. Pots and pans reflected the moonlight that shone through the windows, casting eerie shadows on the wall. It was a shame that what could have been a beautiful evening spent on the back porch was now ruined. Not that he blamed Abby, of course. No, Leroy Jethro Gibbs blamed himself for what had happened. After all, if he had simply pretended that nothing had happened, Abby would most likely have been out clubbing. He still would have been worried about her then, of course, but at least he would have had some sense of where she was. And if he didn't, he could always call her.

Gibbs felt a tear on the brink of rolling down his cheek and he bit his lip so hard that it drew blood. He wiped the back of his hand irritably across his bottom lip and down his pants, for once not caring about his immaculate attire. In any case, it had stopped his tears and allowed him to focus on the much more important task at hand.

Although the only thing he wanted to do was run from room to room screaming Abby's name, he forced himself to follow protocol for a potential hostage situation. It made the whole thing seem so impersonal, and Gibbs couldn't figure out if whether or not that was a good thing.

Peering through one of the doorways leading out of the kitchen, Gibbs saw what appeared to be a living room. It was even darker in there, as there were thick red curtains hanging over the windows and letting in very little light. As far as he could tell, there was no one in there and nothing seemed to be out of place. As he looked hesitantly through the other dark doorframe, he saw a room that looked a lot like the living room. The only difference was that it was full of computers and other high-tech equipment.

He stepped into the room with a soft and wistful smile. Abby would have loved to have been 'trapped' in here. If she had had access to all of this stuff, she would have found her way out within an hour. He ran a calloused hand over the plasma screen as memories of Abby washed over him.

He remembered how much she loved her job, how she always seemed so comfortably when surrounded by familiar and predictable machinery. Sometimes he thought she connected better with them than she did anything or anyone else, if only because she knew how they worked. Where ever Abby was, Gibbs hoped that she was okay. He hoped she was comfortable, safe, warm and, most importantly, alive.

He soon figured that Abby was not in here and, for some reason, it angered him. Instead of kicking and breaking something, Gibbs forced himself to calm down and breathe normally. Once he had his emotions in check, he continued to the next room. Whoever had built this house obviously had an interesting idea of how to position the rooms. One door led to a bathroom, which Gibbs ignored. The other door had nothing but coats hanging in it, including Abby's lab coat.

The clean white material stood out awkwardly with all of the dark coats hanging around it. Gibbs never thought that he would be so glad to see something as trivial as a lab coat, but he was. He carefully pulled it off the hanger and draped it over his arm. Abby would need it when he finally let her go back to work. Of course, knowing Abby as he did, he wouldn't be able to keep her away for more than a day or two, and until she did come back, she would wear it around her house.

With her coat resting in the crook of his arm, Gibbs went into the only remaining doorway. What he saw made his heart leap instantly into his throat. The tears he had managed to suppress only minutes ago suddenly spilt over shamelessly. He grabbed the doorframe to keep himself from falling over.

He had stumbled into a dining room containing a deep mahogany table with matching chairs. There was also a matching china cabinet, complete with some of the most delicate plates and dishes he had ever seen. It amazed him how all of this registered in his mind, considering that these should have been the least of his concern.

The room spun as his eyes focused yet again on the table. For some reason though, he could not look away. It was as though something was forcing the horrifying picture into his mind forever. Not that that was going to be a problem. The second he had so much as glimpsed the scene he knew he would never be able to forget it.

Gibbs didn't trust himself to let go of the doorframe, but he couldn't stand being so far from the table. What was probably only a couple of feet suddenly seemed like thousands upon thousands of miles. He dropped to his knees and shuffled awkwardly to one side of the table. A chair fell over, though he neither noticed or cared. The thud never registered in his mind, and it never occurred to him that he had shoved it aside.

The shockingly pale hand hung loosely over the side of the table. All of his strength suddenly left him, and it was all he could do to tenderly take the small, fragile hand in his own. He ran his finger over the stiff and slightly cold flesh.

After several excruciating seconds, minutes, hours or days, Gibbs began to regain his senses. It occurred to him that he was going to have to call the others. Simply the thought of this would have brought more tears to his eyes, had he not run out of them.

Something in his subconscious mind must have been working and it took over his body for him. He stood up, his legs trembling under the sudden weight. As he noticed the rest of the room, it finally occurred to him topick upthe fallen chair. The second it was back on all four legs, he sank into it.

Gibbs took one last look at Abby's dead body draped almost angelically across the table and finally punched in the speed dial for Ducky, not even realizing how much his hand shook.


	23. The Call

**A/N:** Sorry this took me so long. Without pouring out my boring past few months, I got sidetrcked. forgive me?

So far, Abby has been kidnapped by McGee and Ari. Gibbs was given a total of 60 hours to find her alive, 24 to find her unharmed. About 18 hours in, he's found her dead body. She was found at the farm where they kept Kate. All I remember of the place is thelivingroom with all the computersand the dining room, so everything else is made up. Any mistakes are in fact my own.

* * *

The phone didn't even ring twice before Ducky picked it up, but to Gibbs it felt like longer than an eternity. How dare Ducky ignore him at a time like this? 

"Hello?"

When Ducky answered the phone, Gibbs felt his mouth suddenly go dry. How was he going to tell his best friend that Abby, Ducky's surrogate daughter, was dead?

"Jethro, are you there?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm here Ducky," Gibbs finally managed to croak out.

Ducky wasted no time in asking the question on everyone's mind. "How is my dear Abigail?"

Before Ducky had even finished his question, Gibbs heard Kate and Tony trying to ask their own questions.

"Gibbs, is Abby alive?" asked Kate frantically, her voice echoing shakily through the phone.

Always the optimist, Tony's only question was, "How long are you going to keep Abby from coming back to work Boss?"

"Please excuse them Jethro." Gibbs all but saw Ducky turn to them and give them each a look. "They forget themselves. How is dear Abigail?"

"Duck, Abby is- She's-" Gibbs couldn't finish his sentence without crying, so he fell silent and let the tears roll unchecked down his face.

"Jethro?" Ducky's voice was suddenly soft and full of sorrow. After a long pause, he finally managed to quietly ask the inevitable question. "She's not coming back, is she?"

Gibbs shook his head before remembering that Ducky couldn't see him. "No Duck, she's not," he whispered.

Gibbs heard Kate gasp and let out something between a choke and a sob, and knew that Ducky must have done something to alert them about Abby's fate. Of course, it was all based on assumptions. It seemed as though life itself was an assumption, as he could scarcely pay attention to anything but the pale girl he had once known and loved lying on the table. He almost felt worse for Kate than he did for himself. After all, Abby had been her best friend. And what had he been? Merely a friend who was too afraid to make it into anything more. He could only imagine how Ducky and Tony would react once they were out of her presence. For know, knowing the two of them like he did, he knew they would stay strong; pillars of vitality in the midst of the end of the world as they knew it.

"Jethro, do I-" Ducky drew in a deep breath, invariably preparing himself for what he knew he should do. "Should we bring the van?"

Gibbs knew exactly what Ducky was thinking, and couldn't bear the things it entailed.

"No Duck, you can't cut her up like she's just a- How can we just treat her- No, I won't allow it."

Ducky sighed heavily. "Jethro, you know we have to do it. We have to do her justice."

"NO! Ducky, I- we've defiled her enough already, I won't let you slice her up like she's another one of your experiments!"

"If it were you, what would you have us do?"

"It's not me though, it's her. We're going to catch the bastard, and then we'll give her a proper funeral, without ever touching her body with any of your stupid knives and saws and-"

"Jethro, I'm not going to argue with you. We'll be there in a couple of hours. I am sorry, but you know we have to do it."

Ducky's tone made Gibbs fight back his tears. "Ducky, we can't." He tried feebly, for the last time.

"No one understands how you feel better than I do, and I am just as reluctant about it as you. But what if it leads us to him Jethro? Won't that be what she wanted?" At Gibbs' unexpected silence, Ducky continued. "We'll be seeing you shortly. Don't do anything stupid, alright?" Gibbs didn't reply. "Jethro?"

"Yeah, I hear you Duck."

"Very well then. Would you like Caitlin or Tony to stay on the phone with you?"

Gibbs immediately remembered his two Junior Agents and decided to take charge again. His voice took on an overly authoritative tone that came off as more than harsh. "I can take care of it. Just get over here quickly."

He looked at Abby's body and bit his lip. She was so limp and lifeless. Of course, it was even worse that she was wearing a long and form-fitting white dress. He suddenly realized what it was, and felt a surge of hatred. It wasn't a dress; it was Abby's funeral gown. Not that she didn't look- Well, perhaps good wasn't exactly an appropriate word considering the circumstances, but she didn't look bad in it. When Gibbs got his hands on Ari, the _man_, were he was worth being called that, would be worse than dead.

"Jethro? Will you be alright?"

Gibbs fought hard to keep his tone light and careless. It sounded fake, even to his own ears. "I'll be fine Duck. I think I'll just take a look around."

"You're _quite_ sure that you'll be okay?"

"Of course I will be Ducky."

Gibbs still hadn't lost his tone, and it worried Ducky, but he knew that now was not a time for more arguments. "Alright then Jethro, if you say so."

"I do Duck, and I'll see you in a few hours." With that as his only goodbye, Gibbs hung up, suddenly wanting no more connection with anyone who knew about Abby. Perhaps if he kept himself busy and turned it into just another crime scene, it would make the body disappear.


	24. Meaningless or Meaningful?

Gibbs stared at Abby's body for a brief moment before deciding he had to get out of there and as far away as possible, for now. He continued through the dining room and emerged into the living room. At the end furthest from where he was standing, there was a staircase leading upwards. He walked over to it, throwing both care and caution to the wind. After a slight pause on the bottom step, Gibbs thundered noisily up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

On the landing, he stopped and surveyed the top floor. There were three doors on one side of the hallway and two on the other. At the end, there was another door, presumably leading to a master bedroom.

_Well_, he thought, unknowingly clenching his jaw and his fists, _I guess I'd better do _something _to keep me occupied and it may as well be something useful._ With a sigh, he headed for the farthest door at the end.

Instinct took over, and Gibbs mechanically turned around, walked down the stairs and out the front door to his car. He popped the trunk open, now thankful that he always kept a spare evidence kit in there. He had, of course, completely forgotten- whether purposely or accidentally- that there was no one to process the evidence and nothing to do with it.

He lifted the case out of his trunk and thought it felt heavier than usual. After closing the lid of the trunk, he set it down on the roof of his car and opened it. There was nothing unexpected inside; in fact, it was almost time for him to be restocking on a few things. He shrugged and closed it back up before heading back inside to do his job and try not to think about _why_ he was doing it and who it was for.

He went back in the front door and didn't even look towards the dining room before rushing back up the stairs. Upon opening the door he had been heading towards in the first place, he discovered that he had been right. It _was _the master bedroom. Typical of Ari's flamboyant nature and egotistical pride, the room was done in a deep red with gold accents. It was a nice enough room, but Gibbs found it immensely disappointing.

A bedroom was, by and large, one of the best places to start when investigating. By examining a bedroom, one could figure out some of the deepest and darkest secrets of the owner, whether they were a suspect or a victim.

Ari, of course, had to have known this. The room, presumably his, was not only clean, it was sterile. Even more so than your average hotel room. All it told Gibbs was that either Ari was a neat freak, or he had known, perhaps even hoped, that Gibbs would come. Gibbs sighed and set about his futile task of gathering evidence.

With a sudden stroke of brilliance that Abby would have been proud of, Gibbs decided to start in the connecting bathroom. He swabbed the entire room for blood, from the mirror to the floor to the oversized Jacuzzi bathtub, and even the drains. The only thing that he picked up was ammonia on the mirror. He had enough background knowledge in Forensics just from hanging out with Abby to know that ammonia always gave a false positive with the kits. It was about time that someone did something about that anyway.

After a good hour and a half, Gibbs gave up on the bathroom, leaving only the toilet and the door untouched. He constantly had to remind himself that he was only doing a preliminary search and could always come back when Kate, Tony and Ducky got there.

He wandered back into the bedroom and sighed, giving it one last look over. His eyes rested briefly on the fireplace, the only thing that seemed to have been left out of the obsessive cleaning spree. There was, of course, a pile of blackened papers and wood, but it wasn't these that grasped his interests, holding him in place, captivated by the endless possibilities.

Lying in the corner of the fireplace, probably only just out of reach of the flames when it was lit, was a small silver ring. He recognized it instantly as being one of Abby's own and simply stared at it for several minutes. Finally breaking out of his spell-like fascination, he walked over to the fireplace and knelt on the floor.

The ring was blackened from the smoke of a fire, but was cool to the touch. He guessed that, if it had come from a fire lit in this fireplace, it had been lit several hours ago, but most likely at some point that day. He picked it up and looked at it. It was Abby to a 'T' with its unique design of a snake twisted around a rose. He slid the ring into his pocket, along with a few scraps of paper that had also managed to escape the wrath of the flames.

Gibbs suddenly realized that he was in the mood for anything other than working Abby's crime scene. After a final look around the room, with a good deal less enthusiasm, he turned and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind him and never looking back. If there were any hints as to what had happened to Abby in there, all hopes of finding them were gone with the foreboding click of the door as it closed softly.

Gibbs walked slowly down the stairs, unknowingly running his finger along the banister as though inspecting it for dust. Even if that had been his intention, he would have been very disappointed. Had he been paying attention to anything, he would have soon realized that the entire house was as sterile as the bedroom. Anything left behind had must have been for a reason, whether it was a part of Ari's sick game that Gibbs no longer wanted anything to do with, or whether it was simply unimportant.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gibbs _did_ suddenly realize something, though not about the house or anything as trivial as that.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath as he realized what had happened. Apparently deciding he liked this phrase, he now yelled it. "_Son of a bitch!_"

He had been guaranteed sixty hours to find Abby alive, at the very least, and even twenty four to find her unharmed. Less than eighteen hours into his little mind game, Ari had already killed his bait. Abby had been the proverbial mouse, as much as Gibbs hated the comparison.

That didn't sit too well with Gibbs. He had pushed all thoughts of Abby out of his head, at least for now. Why would Ari so quickly get rid of the one asset he had? Surely he didn't expect Gibbs to keep looking for him, did he?

_But of course he does_, Gibbs realized suddenly. _He knows you won't be able to stay away from him, knowing that he killed Abby. He knows you'll do everything in your power to avenge her death._

Knowing this, Gibbs had a decision to make. Should he put his focus back on his work, or should he fall into the trap for Abby's sake? Abby would, of course, tell him that he would be a fool to walk right into the trap. But what was _he_ telling himself to do? Without another second of thought, he knew what he would do, whatever the cost.

Gibbs finally sank onto the couch in the living room, giving his weary limbs a well-deserved break. His head fell forward onto his hands, and for the first time in who knew how long, Gibbs began to pray. He prayed for strength and courage and his team, but mostly he prayed for Abby's soul. He didn't know how the whole Heaven/Hell thing worked, but he had heard that some people believed you could only get to Heaven if someone prayed for your soul. Gibbs wasn't sure that he believed this, but he didn't much care. There was no way that he'd be responsible for Abby going to Hell.

Slowly, Gibbs felt his resolve weakening and his adrenaline rush wearing thin. He knew that he was tired and sore and needed to relax, but he also knew that now was neither the time nor the place.

At some point, as he sat, the tears began leaking through his fingers. He made no attempt to stem the flow. Abby had been, if nothing else, a wonderful friend and colleague, and she deserved the tears being shed in her name.

Not even five minutes later, Gibbs heard the door of the truck slam. He hurriedly wiped his hands across his face. There would be a time and a place for mourning, but right now he needed to be the strong one. He was, after all, the boss, and he would not let the team see his weakness at a time like this.

With a deep breath, Gibbs forced himself to get off of the couch and go to meet his team.


	25. Swear to God

**A/N:** I know it's not much guys, but I have the next chapter nearly ready. I promise to post it before I go to school tomorrow. Sorry it took so long, but when I got back from my Forensics Conference in DC I had over 300 emails. Needless to say, I've been trying to manage that. I know, I know, no excuses. Anyway, I apologize for the delay.

**Summary: **Basically, what's happend so far is that Abby was kidnapped by McGee and Ari combined. Gibbs and the rest (but mainly Gibbs, obviously) were involved in a race against time. Even though Gibbs is still within his time frame of Abby not being hurt, they've found her body. Gibbs called Ducky, and now he, Kate and Tony are all there as well.

* * *

Before Gibbs was even out of the door, Ducky opened it and walked in. Tony followed him closely, supporting Kate with an arm around her shoulders. When she walked through the door, her face paled noticeably and she gripped Tony's arm. Gibbs turned away, rejecting himself for allowing her to come. For several minutes, no one asked the inevitable question. They all simply stood in the living room with the door wide open. Gibbs could hear Kate fighting back sobs, as well as Ducky's deep breathing. As for Tony, Gibbs wasn't even sure he _was_ breathing. 

Finally, Kate spoke up timidly. "Where is she Gibbs?"

Gibbs tried to answer her, but found that his voice was sticking in his throat. After several feeble attempts to tell her where Abby was, Gibbs just pointed his finger at the door.

Kate disentangled herself from Tony and headed towards it, a grim but determined look on her face. When they all started to follow her, she turned and looked them squarely in the eye. "I need to do this on my own first," she began strongly. "Please… She was- She was my best friend," she whispered, almost inaudibly.

Gibbs gave her a long, hard look and stared back at him, equally searching. Finally he nodded. "Let her go."

Kate turned once more towards the door. She paused, taking the time to breathe deeply and square her shoulders. She was ready.

…Or so she had thought. As she opened the door and saw Abby lying on the table, she nearly threw up. Kate had never had a queasy stomach and has always assumed that no dead body would affect her. She had been wrong, and as much as she wanted to turn and run, she found that she simply could not look away.

Abby lay peacefully on the table, almost as though she were sleeping. She wore a white dress that contrasted stunningly with her dark hair. One arm lay across her stomach, while the other dangled off the edge of the table. The only things indicating that she was dead were the colour of her skin and the fact that her chest didn't rise and fall gently. Kate couldn't help thinking that Abby would make a beautiful bride. Would have _made_ a beautiful bride, rather.

Without so much as thinking about what she was doing, Kate reached out and brushed a stray strand of Abby's hair back. When her fingers brushed against the cold and slightly clammy skin, she froze and pulled her hand away quickly.

"Oh God Abby, I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It should have been me, not you."

"It shouldn't have been any of us Katie," replied Tony from the door.

Kate turned quickly and ran to him. He pulled her into his arms and she buried her face in his chest. "Why her? Why did he have to kill Abby?" Kate began sobbing as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Gibbs stood off to one side, determined not to cry, but he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to manage it. He was asking the same questions. Why Abby? Why not himself? Abby would never get married. She would never come in to work, bursting with joy because she was pregnant. He would never see her laughing again; never see her smile bright up the room. She was… gone.

"It's not fair Tony! It's not fair! She was…" Kate's voice faltered. "She was my best friend…"

Tony felt his heart breaking all over again. Abby, his surrogate little sister, was dead. And now Kate, his… Well, now Kate thought it was at least partially her fault. Ari had undoubtedly been trying to tear them all apart, and Tony knew, without ever looking at the rest of the team, that he had succeeded.

Gibbs was about to open his mouth and say something, but decided against it. He couldn't stand the fact that Ari had won. He had destroyed his team, just as he had planned. And even worse, McGee had helped him do it. They had trusted him, and he had gone and let a god dammed terrorist ruin them all… Had everyone else been less shocked, Gibbs would have stormed out of the house and torn across the entire state, the entire country, even the entire world, until he finally found Ari and gave him _exactly_ what he deserved.

Ducky, who had been standing where he knew there was no chance of him seeing Abby, now moved slightly closer to Gibbs and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault Jethro," he whispered.

"Sure it is Duck," he replied, staring fixedly at the white figure on the table. He turned abruptly. "If it hadn't been for me, Ari would have taken someone else."

"Jethro-" began Ducky, softly at first. He cleared his throat. "Jethro, it is not your fault."

Gibbs merely shrugged, deciding that this was not the time to get into an argument with Ducky.

Ducky sighed loudly and pushed past him, suddenly needing to see Abby, if only to prove to himself that she was in fact gone.

At the sight of her still and lifeless body, Ducky nearly turned and bolted out of the house. And yet, at the same time, there was something there that would not let him look away.

For several moments, there was no sound other than the muffled sobs of Kate and the gentle murmuring of Tony's voice in her ear. Finally, Ducky spoke up.

"We have to get her out of here."

Gibbs turned to him sharply, realizing what he was going to do. "No! Ducky, no."

Ducky tore his eyes from the table, yet did not look Gibbs in the eye. "Jethro, you know what we have to do."

"But we don't Duck! We can just go home and give her a nice funeral… The funeral she deserves." His voice broke halfway through his last sentence, but he didn't care. How could Ducky, one of his own team members, even _suggest_ that they… He shuddered, not even wanting to think about it.

"Jethro, how else do you propose that we find this bastard?" The pain was evident on Ducky's face and in his voice, but Gibbs hardly noticed or cared. All he knew was that if a knife was being used on Abby's body, it would have to cut his heart out first.

"We search the entire planet or even the entire universe if we have to!"

At Gibbs' yelling, Kate and Tony turned to watch, curious as to how things would play out despite themselves and the circumstances. Kate looked over at Abby's body and squeezed her eyes shut at the image that unwillingly came to her mind. She didn't want them to cut Abby open anymore than Gibbs did, but she also knew that they would probably have to.

"You know that we can't do that."

"And what if it does nothing? What if we do all of that to her body and there's absolutely nothing useful there? Then we'll have violated her for nothing _and_ we'll have wasted all that time."

Ducky bit his lip and considered his colleague for a minute. "What if we just take her back… Back to the labs, where she belongs? Then we can see if there might be a reason to…?" He let his voice trail off, hating himself for what he was doing.

Gibbs looked thoughtfully from Abby, to Ducky, then back to Abby. "You won't so much as touch her with a scalpel or anything?"

"Not unless I have the okay from you first." He promised. In truth, Ducky was glad that someone was putting up a fight, because the last thing he was willing to do was put Abby on that cold table and cut her open. Still he had known that someone would have to make the argument, and as the oldest, he had taken the miserable task upon himself.

During the time that they had been arguing, no one other than Tony had noticed Kate moving to stand angrily by Abby's body, and he had wisely chosen not to say anything. They turned now, prepared to carry Abby back to the truck, and saw her.

Kate levelled her eyes with Ducky and Gibbs. "If you go near her with a knife, I swear to God I will kill you. Never mind Gibbs giving his okay, you _won't_ do it," she snarled dangerously.

Gibbs finally snapped out of his self-loathing and became the cool and collected Boss-man again. "Tony, take Kate outside please."

Kate didn't protest as Tony took her wrist in his hand, but her eyes never left Gibbs as she let him take her away. "I swear it Gibbs, I will kill you."

"Yeah," he murmured softly. "Yeah, I know you will Kate."


	26. Let Go

**A/N:** I know this is taking too long. I'm really sorry. To those of you who are my loyal readers, thanks a lot for sticking with me and not completely hating me. After all, I think I've taken just about all the creative license I'm allowed. Don't worry though, I promise to make everything moderately okay in the end.

**Summary:** So far, not too much has changed. I'm going really slowly, for some unkown reason (and yes, that means I don't even know why). Anyway, to refresh you all, just in case, Abby got kidnapped by Ari and McGee. Gibbs had a timeline. He found Abby's dead body well within his limit. I guess that's all youneed to really know. Wow, it's a much more interesting story, in my head.

* * *

Gibbs watched as Tony pulled Kate away. He had thought that no one would ever be able to intimidate him. As Kate's eyes bored into his, he knew he would never forget the haunted look on her face as long as he lived. It didn't matter that he had no intention of letting them cut Abby open. After all, it had been her worst nightmare at one point. 

"Now what Ducky?" asked Gibbs wearily. The last thing he wanted to be right now was the boss, but it was the one thing he _had_ to be.

"Now we…" Ducky sighed heavily. "We take her to the truck, Jethro."

They looked at each other, then at Abby. Without so much as a word, Gibbs picked up her fragile body and cradled her in his arms. Ducky looked over at him and, realizing that Gibbs would never ask for help in this situation, left Gibbs alone.

Gibbs looked down at her pale face and sank to the floor. He pulled her body against him and hugged her tightly. Maybe it was weird, or even _wrong_ to hug a dead person, but it was the farthest thing from Gibbs' mind. All he knew was that he had screwed up Abby's life, and now he wished he could take it back.

Suddenly, Gibbs was furious, and not completely at himself. "Why her God?" He looked up at the ceiling and yelled, still holding her against him as though trying to put some of his own life back into her. "What the Hell did she ever do to you?" He sighed. "And why couldn't it have been me instead?"

With the realization that it _could_ have been him, Gibbs started to cry. He didn't care what anyone thought anymore, he just knew that there was no holding them back and he didn't want to anyway. As he watched the tears, _his_ tears, roll off her skin and onto the carpet, he found that it was somewhat comforting to have the drops rolling down his cheeks. For once, he didn't hurriedly wipe them away or try to hide them. For once, Gibbs was a Marine, and yes damn-it-all, he was crying.

He cradled her body to him for another minute then got up carefully. Hr had one arm supporting her neck, and the other was under her knees. Her hair fell over his arm and cascaded like an ebony-coloured waterfall towards the floor. He had never realized just how long or how beautiful it had really been. Not that it really mattered anymore, as he would never get to tell _her_ that.

Of course, there were lots of things he had never truly realized about his beloved lab rat and would now never get to tell her. He had never realized just how green her eyes were, now that he thought about it. He had never realized what a sweet name she had, not that he would have ever _dared_ to tell her that. He had never realized just how pale she truly was. He knew that this was partially due to the fact that she was dead, but she had had much fairer skin than anyone else he knew.

He sighed and actually started to move towards the front door, still thinking about all the things he had suddenly realized, and just how late he had been.

Gibbs walked purposefully to the truck, refusing to meet the eyes of any of his colleagues. He shifted Abby's body ever so slightly in his arms and held her closer. When he finally reached the truck, he refused to let Ducky help him, and he eventually just stood aside.

Gibbs laid her gently on the cold, metal table, realizing that this was what she had feared more than anything else in the world. "You sick bastards," murmured Gibbs as he took off his jacket. He knew all too well just how cold the gurneys were, after all. He lifted the top half of Abby's body and slid his jacket underneath her.

"I'm so sorry Abbs." He brushed back her hair with more tenderness than a father and his newborn daughter. "It shouldn't have ended like this." He brushed a gentle kiss against her cheek and felt the tear coming back. He brushed them away helplessly and quickly buckled the straps, feeling more and more heartless by the second.

Tony met him at the door of the truck. "Boss, I- I just wanted to, you know…" He trailed off carefully.

"No, Tony, I really don't know."

He shrugged helplessly. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry we didn't get here in time, and I'm sorry I was messing around."

Gibbs looked at him long and hard. "You don't really think that this is your fault, do you Tony?" He looked at him incredulously.

"Well, I- That is-" Tony's voice caught in his throat. "Yeah Boss, I really do."

Gibbs was absolutely stunned. How could Tony, the hardest person Gibbs had ever had to shake, be the one accusing himself for what had happened. Gibbs turned Tony and made him look directly into his piercing blue eyes. "Tony, it's _not_ your fault."

Tony opened his mouth to object, but Gibbs cut him off by continuing.

"Look, I know about you and Kate. We all knew it was only a matter of time before something happened between you two anyway. Abby wouldn't want you to blame yourself; she'd think she had ruined things. You know that, don't you?" Gibbs put a hand on Tony's arm. "She'd want you to be happy." On the last bit, Gibbs started to tear up again and found he couldn't look Tony in the eye.

Tony shook his head. "You're wrong Boss…" he whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Good God, it's not just you, is it?" Gibbs spun around to face him again. "Wait, wait, wait; let me guess. Kate thinks it's _her_ fault, and I'm going to bet that _Ducky_ even blames him_self_!"

Tony looked at him, for once at a loss for words, but Gibbs wasn't quite finished.

"What the Hell is wrong with you all anyway?" He was really getting into it now, and he wondered if it was even about convincing Tony anymore, or if he was really trying to convince some monster within himself. "If it had been anyone else in the world, even if they looked _slightly_ like Abby, we would never make it _our_ fault. It's Ari's damn fault, or McGee's, or even mine, but certainly not yours, Kate's or Ducky's!"

Tony just stood there, dumbfounded, while Gibbs stalked furiously to his car. Finally, he came to his senses and ran after his boss and friend. As Gibbs opened the door to his car, Tony grabbed it and refused to let go.

Gibbs sighed. "Tony, let go of the goddamned door," he told him, his voice sounding wearier than ever before, and certainly lacking the forcefulness it had held less than a minute ago.

"Boss, I really-"

"Tony, let it go." Gibbs was silently pleading with him. It scared and shocked poor Tony. At that moment, he would have given anything in the world to have Gibbs back to yelling and slapping him. But this… Tony couldn't stand seeing Gibbs so helpless and broken.

"Let what go Boss?" he asked gently, hoping for one last chance.

"Tony," Gibbs' voice took on a little bit more feeling as he gave his subordinate one last chance.

Tony nodded and let go of the door, but not without putting in his last say. "You know Gibbs, Abby would have wanted the same things you told me to apply to you."

Gibbs didn't say a word as he slammed the door in Tony's face, nearly slipping off his nose in the process. The brakes squealed, and Gibbs careened down the long driveway more recklessly than they had ever seen him.

Kate came to stand by Tony. "It's worse than we thought, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah Kate, it's much worse."

They stood next to each other for a long time, not saying anything.

Finally, Ducky came over. "Come on you two, there's nothing more we can do for him now."

Slowly the three of them turned back to the van…


	27. Coming Closer

**A/N:** For those of you not on a Debate team, I've been working very hard on our case and that's why this has taken so long. I'm really sorry though, for what it's worth.

**Summary:** Abby has been kidnapped by McGee, who hit her over the head with her own lamp, and taken to Ari. Gibbs was given a total of 60 hours to find Abby alive, 24 of which would guarantee her uninjured. Now, 18 hours into this horrible game that NCIS has been forced to play, Abby's body has been found dead, in no place other than where Kate was held hostage in 2004. Now, it's a race to find not Abby, but Ari and McGee in the hopes of somehow managing to avenge Abby's death, and find out exactly how she was killed in the process.

* * *

Gibbs drove for what seemed like an eternity and a day. He sped out of the driveway at least 30 miles over the speed limit. When he needed to think, he drove. When he got pissed off, he drove fast. When a couple of bastards took Abby away, gave him a deadline for finding her, then killed her anyway… Well, he drove to kill. Anyone who was stupid enough to have a different opinion must either have never known him, or had the distinct pleasure of not driving anywhere remotely near him at the time. He had no intentions of going directly back to Headquarters; there was too much there to remind him of Abby anyway. Instead, once he reached Arlington, he proceeded to continue driving through there, allowing his built-in autopilot (Abby had insisted it came with being the boss; he insisted it came with simply liking it there) to navigate the roads as he concentrated solely on his thoughts, however unwelcome they may have been.

Gibbs pulled his car sharply off to the side of the road. As he got out of it, he belatedly noticed that it was raining. With a shrug, he shook his head to rid his already sopping hair of the water that had accumulated. Not even seconds later, it was just as wet as it had been before. He gave it up and started up the hill.

At the top, Gibbs sighed and sat under the beautiful willow tree. This was probably the most beautiful spot in all of Washington, DC, and he had always intended to take Abby here, someday. He looked wistfully out across the vast green cemetery, so solemnly majestic with its neatly staked white crosses. From here he could see Kennedy's home on the grounds, as well as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument, and just about every other touristy spot in DC. He never had much cared for monuments or other such frivolous tributes to people who could never hope to make as much of a difference as the truly unsung heroes of every walk of life. People like Abby, or Ducky… But no, the presidents got the statues instead.

A small chuckle escaped Gibbs' lips as he thought of what a statue of Abby would look like in the middle of the nation's capitol. Perhaps it would be a better idea to just leave the city in some relative state of normalcy after all. Besides, Abby probably wouldn't appreciate being a bird's nest. And that wasn't even mentioning all the sun. No, Gibbs quickly turned from any thoughts of even suggesting it. Besides, it was anything but Abby.

As he sat in his future burial spot, Gibbs began to formulate some semblance of an idea. It would be unique, especially for Arlington, with all of it uniformity. As far as he was aware, the plot he had purchased was available for anything he might wish to use it as. The question was, would his particular plan be allowed?

Gibbs stood thoughtfully, not even noticing the mud clinging to his once neatly-pressed pants. Luckily for him, the rain washed away all but the merest traces of dirt and mud.

With renewed vigour and determination, Gibbs jumped in his car. As the blast of cool air hit him, he fully appreciated how horrible it was to be wet and forced to drive with him. He shivered and, for perhaps the first time in his adult life, turned the heat up all the way, savouring the warmth that seemed to spread throughout his very being, though that could have been for other reasons.

Gibbs watched as the perfect rows of little white crosses sped by and smiled again. One way or another, it would happen, if he had to kill someone to do it. Hell, there were already two people he was dead-set on killing, why not add one more? The more the merrier, right? And hey, why not just go ahead and go on a massive killing spree?

Gibbs suddenly braked and shook his head. No, that was not an option. All the deaths in the world would never be able to fill the hole left in him now, nor could they avenge Abby's death. He smacked himself for even giving the notion even the slightest bit of thought. What would Abby have said?

Gibbs could think of a myriad of words, phrases and obscenities that would come flying out of her mouth, no doubt in varying combinations of the above. And, as she would have fully intended, he would walk away embarrassed and much less cocky. But woe to anyone else who crossed his path after that, for he would also be in a foul mood with everyone but her, and- on an exceptional day- Ducky. They were, as Abby had been so fond of saying, the exceptions that made the rule.

_God Abbs, if you only knew just _how_ right you were_, he thought dejectedly. _You were the exception to all the Rules. How many did I break- or want to break- with you? Let's see: never date a co-worker; never mess with a Marine's coffee… You always did love to just take it from me. _He smiled, remembering how surprised he had been the first time she had taken a sip of his coffee…

"_Where's my caffeine fix Boss-man?"_

_Gibbs grinned, thinking he would have a bit of fun. "Sorry Abbs, all I've got is coffee."_

_She pouted dejectedly and turned back to her computer, attacking the keys with even more vengeance than before. Hoping to appear as though it had just occurred to him, Gibbs smiled. "Want some coffee?"_

_Abby looked at him through her screen and thought for a moment. Her chair spun around and she held out a hand for it. He gave it to her willingly, knowing she would probably end up spitting it on him and not hugely caring either. It would be worth it just to see her face. She struck him as the kind of person with exceptional facial expressions._

_Abby raised the paper cup as if to toast him then put it to her lips. Gibbs chewed on his lower one, waiting for her look of disgust. She tasted it thoughtfully, then took another sip._

"_Not bad boss… Not bad at all… Though I can't say I pegged you for Colombian. You always looked like more of a French person to me."_

_Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Not too strong for you?"_

"_Are you kidding? I've finally found someone who would drink my coffee… My opinion is that you should make it like hot chocolate, real hot chocolate that is: thick, strong and with nothing else in it."_

After that, Gibbs and Abby had formed a bond that no one, not even themselves, really understood. Even now, Gibbs couldn't explain it, and it had been at least 4 years. Something about the way she drank his coffee had suddenly made him trust her beyond almost anyone else. Gibbs would be the first one to admit that it had been not only a new experience for him, but also a strange one. Who would have ever guessed the bonding powers that coffee could have? Nonetheless, it did. After that, they had gone for coffee or dinner together at least once a month.

Gibbs continued to drive as though nothing was wrong. However, had anyone been near enough to him to see his face, they would have noticed several small droplets of water running down his cheeks. Perhaps anyone else would have convinced themselves that they were just remnants of the rain. Normally, Gibbs would have too. But, for one of the first times in his life, Leroy Jethro Gibbs was crying, and this time, he was not ashamed. And, as he let the tears roll, Gibbs finally realized that this night would be the beginning of many unpleasant and troublesome firsts.


	28. Hopes in the Wind

**A/N:** I didn't get many reviews last time. I guess you've all given up on me then, eh? What a shame, what a shame. For those of you still reading, let me know what you think about the end of this chapter... I promise, there can be good connotations.

* * *

Gibbs pulled sharply into the parking lot, narrowly missing the old car he knew to be Ducky's. Not to say that Ducky would have been particularly surprised had he hit it, but it was still the principle of the thing. He carefully backed up and paid attention, at least while he parked. Having accomplished this, he threw open his door, which caught in the wind and would have pulled him out of the car and to the concrete, except that Gibbs had a deathly grip on it, for reasons unbeknownst even to himself. He slammed the door shut, perhaps a bit harder than necessary. His car rocked in its wheels with the force, as though the wind itself wasn't enough to make it tremble ever so slightly. 

In the same manner, Gibbs stormed into Headquarters. Under any other circumstances, he would have been outraged even more by the fact that Kate and Tony were nowhere to be found. However, right now, he didn't want them around, and even if he had, he wouldn't have- _couldn't _have- blamed them for skipping this autopsy out. Gibbs yanked the door for the stairs open so hard that he could have thrown it to one side without much, if any, more effort on his part. His thundering footsteps echoed loudly in the narrow stairwell, drowning out the fury and noise of the storm currently raging outside the building. At the bottom of the stairs, he didn't even bother with the handle and just kicked the door open, not knowing or caring if he did any damage. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing that could stop him. And whenever Leroy Jethro Gibbs was concerned about something of this magnitude, there was no questioning whether he was right or wrong.

The doors slid open all too slowly for Gibbs. At the sight of a human-shaped lump under a sheet, Gibbs mouth went dry and his strength left him. A single pale hand dangled lifelessly off the edge of the table, just as it had done in the farmhouse. Gibbs felt his stomach knot and try to empty itself, but he forced it down. He tried to speak, and found that he couldn't. Tears threatened to come up and pour out, but he wouldn't let them. He held his composure, his eyes once again taking on that impassive and uncaring glazed over look.

Ducky came out from his small office and looked at Gibbs long and hard before he said anything. "Jethro, you and I both know we can't bring anyone else in for Abby. And someone has to do it…"

Gibbs cleared his throat hurriedly. "I know Duck, I just-" he whispered, his voice trailing off into nothing.

Ducky's eyes softened. "Jethro, I'm going to go and get some tea. Would you like some coffee, perchance?"

"Yes, please." Gibbs knew that Ducky was giving him a much needed chance to truly say goodbye, without the interruptions of the others and before the- The funeral. And the offer of coffee was, as always, one he couldn't refuse.

As Gibbs heard the doors swish shut behind his friend and coworker. He smiled wryly at Abby. "I guess some things never change, do they Abbs?"

Barely aware of what he was doing, Gibbs walked closer to the table and pulled the sheet back just enough to see her face. She still looked so calm; so peaceful; so serene. It was almost like she was sleeping, really. Except, of course, for the colour of her skin, which had an unearthly grey tint as though she had once been a charcoal drawing done by one of the most detailed and elaborate artists in his prime.

"Oh Abbs, I'm so sorry." He knelt by her side and tucked her hand under the sheet, refusing to look away from her face as he did so.

He suddenly felt a need to explain himself to her, despite the fact that it was too late. Or maybe, he realized guiltily, because it was too late.

"Look Abbs, I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't know what I was doing, or what I was thinking." He thought about that for a minute. "Well, okay, I guess that's not entirely true. I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I was just thinking about you, and me, and how we could be so perfect together. And I guess I was trying to be kind of like you. You're just so damn unpredictable. I wanted to make you fumble for words; I wanted to have the same affect on you that you always seem to have on me. And your face was right there, like you were inviting me to kiss you."

He sighed. "Ah hell Abbs, this is entirely my fault. If I hadn't been so focused on leaving you alone, you wouldn't have been kidnapped in the first place. And Kate even warned me that it was bothering you. But I couldn't work up the courage to come and see you." He chuckled mirthlessly as he came to a new realization.

"It wasn't even that I was afraid you'd be mad or anything. I can take yelling, I can take rejection; I can take almost anything like that that you could ever do to me. Ironically enough, I was afraid you would say something… I don't know, something that would make me need you more, or something that would indicate that maybe I didn't do something to be mad at you for. Or maybe that you would completely avoid the topic and you wouldn't even yell at me."

He bit his lip thoughtfully. "I think- I think I really loved you Abbs," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

Gibbs stood there, motionless but for the trembling of his lower lip. He thought about everything he and Abby could have shared, to be sure, but more than that, he thought about all that he and Abby _had_ shared. After all, while it made no sense to dwell on what could have happened, there was nothing wrong with remembering her as she had been. So Gibbs' mind wandered to when he met her, knowing almost instantly that she would be the one to get the job.

_A fairly short young woman with jet black hair was led over to Gibbs by the Director. Her hair hung loosely in her face in soft ringlets, and her clothes were neatly pressed. She looked overly nervous, for someone who was simply touring the building and getting interviewed for a job, yet she held herself with a dignified and self-respecting air that made Gibbs truly realize what self confidence really was._

"_Jethro, I'd like you to meet Ms. Abigail Sciuto."_

_The girl smiled nervously and held out her hand. "It's actually Abby, if you don't mind."_

_Gibbs was shocked, almost to the point of amusement. No one had ever greeted him by correcting the director. He took her hand and shook it lightly, already liking her. "Abby then." Gibbs turned to Director Morrow. "I can take it from here, thanks."_

_The Director nodded, obviously pleased, and left for his office._

_Gibbs strode purposefully across the bullpen, Abby's first test. She hurriedly followed him, letting him stay ahead, but keeping closely on his tail, in case she missed something. At the same time, she didn't come anywhere near close enough to crowding him. Very well then, Abby had passed thus far._

_Without looking at her, he walked to the elevator and motioned her inside._

"_Oh, um, thanks." She flashed a quick smile, looking slightly more at ease._

_Gibbs shrugged and left it at that as the doors closed on them._

_Abby looked at him. "So how'd you get into this line of work?"_

_Gibbs was slightly taken aback. Alright, so the girl either loved to talk or simply refused to let things get awkward. "Marine Core. You?"_

_He saw her reflection on the elevator wall grin. "We had a wrecking yard practically on our property back home. The whole action and reaction of car wrecks got me into a job at the morgue, and things kind of went from there."_

_It was then that Gibbs noticed the sophisticated southern accent hidden carefully under her pronounced speech. Now involved in the conversation, and even more intrigued by his guest, Gibbs asked her a question._

"_Where are you from?"_

"_New Orleans, born and raised. I moved to New York for Grad school though." She grinned again, showing off her flashing white teeth. "It hides the Southern accent, as I'm sure you've noticed."_

Gibbs smiled. She had been observant too, that was for sure, and the only one to ever pick up on where he was from. She had pegged him perfectly in that simple elevator ride to Ducky's.

A small tear slipped unchecked down Gibbs' face. "I swear Abbs, if I could do it again, I wouldn't make those same mistakes. I swear it." He lapsed into silence again, just looking at her, before uttering his final promise. "And I swear I'll make this bastard pay in more than just blood."

Had Abby not been dead, Gibbs would have sworn that he saw her lips twitch ever so slightly into a faint smile.

* * *

So tell me... What are the thoughts on this? 


	29. And the Dead Shall Rise

**A/N:** Sorry, I know I was doing semi-well with my updates, but I had a brain clog, and I was busy. But on the bright side (if anyone cares), I went to a Debate meet, and our school- which would be my partner Jeni and I (yes, Jenni and Jeni)-placed 3rd. First tournament ever, and we were 3rd. No one cares, but I thought we were AHmayZING! And now that I'm done, please enjoy the latest installment of True Colours. By the way, does anyone still want me to put summaries of what has happend before I post each chapter?

* * *

Ducky smiled softly as he walked back into Autopsy to find Gibbs staring softly at Abby's body. He watched as Gibbs' shoulders heaved silently, and he knew his friend was sobbing, however silently. Ducky thought back about the first time he had met Abby; how she made him smile, and how she had been anything but what he expected.

Ducky shook himself before he got too into the memories of how she had been one way on her interview day, but less than a week later, she had been in pigtails, short skirts and overdone black eyeliner. And more to the point, how she purposely did it to make everyone, even her boss, stare.

Clearing his throat, he walked over to his sobbing friend and lay a hand on his shoulder. To both of their surprise, Gibbs turned and continued his cry on Ducky's shoulder. Ducky awkwardly put an arm around Gibbs and let him cry.

"Jethro," he murmured softly. "Jethro, calm down please."

"I- She- We were- I loved her Duck," he whispered, already collecting himself.

Ducky released his friend and looked him in the eye. "Jethro, we're going to find the bastard, and you're going to kill him. But to do that…" Ducky looked apologetically at the white sheet.

Gibbs followed his gaze and stood squarely in front of the table. "You'll have to cut through me first."

"Jethro, this is ridiculous, move out of my way please."

"No!"

"Jethro, I won't even probe her body with a 40 foot pole, unless you say so, okay? Will that help any?"

Gibbs shook his head stubbornly. "No way, I don't trust you to even pull back the sheet."

"Jethro, be reasonable. What if you hold all of my tools and take them upstairs." Ducky gave him a pointed look, which he obviously misinterpreted.

"Fine then, I will." Gibbs set about picking up all of Ducky's tools; from his stryker saw, which they all still thought looked like a warped golf club; to his weird hammer with a hook thing, that he insisted was just called a hammer with hook; even all the scalpels and razor sharp bread knives.

Gibbs took them upstairs to Abby's lab, locked them away in her cupboard and locked up the lab. When he returned to Autopsy, Ducky was standing looking at him in the doorway, shaking his head. Gibbs merely shrugged, not caring what his friend thought as he strode past him and to the body, determined to treat it as just another victim.

Gibbs stared long and hard at the lifeless body before making a request. "Duck, would you- Cover Abby's head please? And her hands and feet as well?"

"Of course I will Jethro." Ducky smiled at his friend and went to get black tarps. He placed them gently over her head and feet, then covered her hands with little black, hand-shaped bags. "Now, may we start the pre-lim?"

Gibbs nodded and wordlessly helped Ducky take the white sheet off of Abby's body. The white dress was long and had reached her ankles, but now it bunched up around her knees, revealing the long legs she had loved to show off. Gibbs swallowed hard as he took in everything on the outside of her body, carefully making himself focus on the task at hand.

Something slammed against the door, and Gibbs turned to see Kate already rushing into the room. She breezed right past Ducky, almost shoving him out of the way, even as he moved, and up in front of Gibbs. She jammed her finger into his chest.

"How dare you? How _dare_ you?" Hot tears came to her eyes, but she brushed them away impatiently. "You _swore_ to me Gibbs; you _swore_." She started to cry now, unashamed and not even bothering to wipe away the multitude of tears. "No autopsy; you swore it," she whispered.

Just then, Tony burst in too. "Kate! Leave them alone." He turned sheepishly to Gibbs. "I'm sorry boss, I swear I- I mean, she twisted free and- I'm sorry?" He tried hopefully.

Kate spun around angrily. "He swore to me Tony. I _knew_ this would happen. But no, no one listens to the best friend, because she'd too damn _emotional_, right?"

She stormed off again with her hands on her hips.

Tony looked from Gibbs to Ducky, then back again. "Sorry, but they _were_ best friends." After he looked sheepishly at his feet, he rushed off, calling Kate's name.

Ducky and Gibbs looked at each other.

"Go home Jethro."

Gibbs shook his head. "We've got to get this done Duck. Just not, you know, not the whole thing…"

"Then you will go home."

"Home? Probably not, but away from here, yes."

Ducky glared at his friend and boss, a very rare thing from anyone, least of all Ducky. "You will go home. Did you ever consider that Ari might be there, waiting for you? You could have a perfect opportunity to get the bastard, before it's too late." Ducky looked over at Abby, then back to Gibbs. "Go now Jethro; she'll wait."

"How do you know he's there Duck?"

Ducky leveled his gaze with the stubborn ass in front of him. "My gut. Now go, before I tie you down and drive you myself."

"But Abby-"

"-Will be fine with me. Kate and Tony can come say goodbye. I'll make them calm down. Go home and relax for an hour or two, even if he's not there."

"Ducky, you know I can't do that. I'll be back as soon as possible. Thanks." Gibbs smiled briefly and hugged his friend. Before Ducky could fully react, Gibbs was out the door and running to his car.

Ducky chuckled. "I love you too, my friend."


	30. Breaking and Entering

**A/N:** Hm, not much to say. Still busy. Sorry if you're waiting on email(s) from me. I'll check them ASAP. Maybe this weekend; definitely by next weekend.

So far, Abby was kidnapped by McGee and taken hostage. Gibbs was given 24 hours to find her unhurt, and another 36 to find her alive. She died within the first 18 hours, and Gibbs is pissed off. He's now en route to his house, hoping to find Ari and/or McGee. And next chapter... The twist. And that, my Loves, is a promise.

* * *

Gibbs pulled out of his parking space and began his ten minute drive home on the now-deserted roads. He didn't speed, or at least not as much as he had on the way to headquarters. As he drove, he thought about his gun and how satisfactory it would be to see the bullet going through Ari's head. He had almost begun to believe that Ari _would _be there. Perhaps it was foolish of him, but he would at least be more than prepared. Gibbs fingered his gun, allowing his anger to seep into it for later, when he would most need it. He was worried, yes, but more than that he was prepared. If Ari could get into Gibbs' house, as Gibbs was fairly certain he could and would, he ought to know that he would be coming out as anything but alive.

Less than ten minutes later, Gibbs pulled off the side of the road about a block from his house. Maybe he was being overly cautious and paranoid, but hopefully it would pay off one way or another. Nevertheless, he pulled out his gun and held it at the ready, just in case. Gibbs crept carefully through his neighbor's lawns, feeling like an intruder as he neared his own house. The door was shut, and the lights were off: just as he had left it all. He slowed his pace and quieted his footsteps. As he darted from shadow to concealing shadow, he watched the house, his _own_ house, for any signs of movement. Rather than risking the creaks and groans of the front porch, he crept to the door on the side of his house leading directly to his basement. Pulling out his keys, Gibbs silently unlocked the door, opened it and slid into the house, breathing silently but heavily. As he pulled the door shut, he listened intently for anyone else.

After standing there for God only knew how long without hearing anything, Gibbs felt along the wall for the light switch. Finding it, he flicked it on. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with the basement. His boat was in the middle of the basement, just where is always had been. Gibbs' eye twitched, as if anyone could move that thing anyway. His tools were all lined up on the bench, untouched.

As Gibbs moved closer, intending to go upstairs and make sure the rest of his house was impeccably in place, he noticed something wrong with his boat. His precious boat that had been the source of release for much of his frustration. His wonderful boat that he had poured so much time, effort and adoration into. His most prized possession now ruined. He let out a choked sob at the deep scars dug mercilessly into what was perhaps the one thing that had kept him going for so many years.

Crudely engraved into the lovingly sanded wood were seven words. So seemingly meaningless on their own, yet so utterly devastating when put together. There were, of course, many other deep grooves in the wood. However, they were comparatively meaningless. They were just lines; their only intention was to inflict more pain on the once proud, but now deteriorating owner of the boat that was now in the same condition.

Gibbs bit his lip, infuriated. He would not let them get to him, no matter what they did. Sure, he would get upset, and of course they would pay. But on the off-chance that they were still somewhere nearby, Gibbs would not let them have the pleasure of seeing him so affected.

He stormed up the stairs, suddenly not caring if he alerted someone that he was in the house. Upstairs was literally untouched. There was nothing moved, everything was in place. He eyed the house carefully as he flooded it with the overhead light by flicking the switch.

Suddenly he noticed what was missing. The _only_ thing that was missing. Two years ago, for his birthday, Abby had playfully bought him a wooden sailboat. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't a toy either. It was a deep black, with elaborate gold lettering. She had lettered it herself, and lovingly named the mini-ship _The Silver Fox_. It had been on his mantle piece since the day he had found it on his desk, wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in a box, wrapped in silver wrapping paper and tied with a black bow. There had been a card with it, and though they had never spoken of it, the small gift had started an elaborate chain of note passing.

Gibbs was furious now. He darted into his room, hoping they hadn't taken the notes too. He yanked the drawer of his bedside table open and sighed with relief. A collection of varying pieces, colours and sizes of paper filled the drawer over halfway. Sticky notes; ripped pieces of paper; fingerprint cards; Christmas cards, birthday cards, Halloween cards, cards for almost every holiday of the year. All of these were covered in Abby's neat and creative scrawl. He closed the drawer gently, deciding to go and start his project now that his boat was destroyed.

A loud ringing suddenly filled Gibbs' ears. For a minute, he didn't understand what it was. Then, suddenly, he realized it was his cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Yeah, it's Gibbs."

"_Jethro, where are you?"_

"Where am I? I'm at home. Why Ducky? What's wrong?"

"_Nothing's wrong, I was just calling to make sure you were okay. Was anyone there?"_

"No, no one's here. Someone was earlier though."

"_Is anything missing?"_

"No Duck, nothing's missing…" Gibbs sighed. "They destroyed my boat though."

"_Oh my Jethro, I'm so sorry. How did they manage that?"_

Gibbs ran his hand over his face. "They dug something into it, probably with a screwdriver or something. I guess I can always sand it down if they're not too deep."

"_Well, I'd say it will be at least another hour before we can do… The autopsy. I just thought you'd want to know."_

"Thanks a lot. I did want to know, but I don't know if I'll be there or not, to tell you the truth."

"_Of course, I understand."_

"Bye Ducky."

"_Good-bye Jethro."_

Gibbs flipped his phone shut and dropped it back into his pocket. He knew he should rest, but he also knew that a one hour nap would only serve to make him worse. So, fatigued though he was, he went down to his basement. Rather than even looking at his boat- in fact, taking great pains _not_ to look at his boat- Gibbs pulled out some wood. Not scrap wood, for that wouldn't ever work in a project such as this, but strong and durable cedar. He didn't often use it, as it was fairly expensive and hard to mold, but he always kept some on hand, just in case. Slowly, he began to piece together a cross. Not just two pieces of wood nailed together, such as the ones in Arlington, but an elaborate cross that would rival any in the National graveyard.

A slow smile spread across Gibbs' face as his cross began to take a noticeable form. He doubted if anyone would know the origin of the cross. But he would. He would go into Arlington every day, and never forget where he had seen it. It was, after all, forever tattooed on Abby's back. And when the wooden one was completely done, it would be just as black as the original.

Gibbs worked for almost an hour, then brushed off the sweet-smelling sawdust and went to his car. As he drove, those eight words on his boat kept coming back to her. _You're so worthless you never found her._


	31. Who knows?

**Author's Note**: I know this is short and a long time in coming. I promise, I'm nearly done with the next chapter, and I hope to have it up before I leave tomorrow. Or definitely by the 9th of September. The summary for this chapter is basically the same as the last, if you've forgotten what happend. I confess, even I did, for a moment. Anyway, I hope this is at least acceptable.

Gibbs stepped into the elevator with a sigh. The bright lights hurt his eyes, but aside from that he was feeling marginally better or at least as well as could be expected. Once he had finished with his cross, he had taken a shower and grabbed a cup of coffee on his way back into the office. Not for the first time, he found himself thankful that his coffee shop was open 24 hours. The elevator dinged, letting Gibbs know he had reached his destination. As the doors opened, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and steeled himself for what was about to come.

As he walked into Ducky's autopsy lab, he frowned. Kate was thrashing in Tony's firm yet gentle grasp. Gibbs raised an eyebrow as Tony looked at him helplessly. Meanwhile, Kate was in hysterics, yelling something not quite intelligible.

"Tony, let Kate go, okay?"

With an incredulous stare, he let her go, and Kate turned to face him. "It's not her," she insisted.

"Honey, we've been through this already, Abby-"

"-Cannot be lying on that table!" she finished, angrily cutting Tony off.

Gibbs frowned, thinking that this was the last thing any of them needed, especially now. "Kate, please, don't do this, okay? Not right now."

Her face fell and she looked at him with all the hurt of a wounded puppy. "You won't even listen to me?" Her chin quivered slightly, and Gibbs could tell that this was no act, but that she really was on the verge of tears and doing her very best to hold them in.

"Alright Kate," he nodded resolutely. "Tell us why that can't be Abby." He spoke slowly, as though he was speaking the words without really wanting to.

She nodded slightly. "A month ago, Abby and I went out together, kind of like a girls' night out. It was really hot outside. She- I- We- We both drank a little more than we could handle." She stopped for a minute looking to the floor and regaining her composure. "Somehow, the next morning, we woke up in her living room with matching tattoos. They're horrible lime green smiley faces on our left ankle." As proof to her claim, Kate lifted up her pants and rolled down her knee highs to show them a bright green sphere.

Gibbs and Tony exchanged confused looks. "Um, Kate, darling baby girl, what's your point?" Tony asked hesitantly.

"Ugh, men." She rolled her eyes and mumbled something to herself. Looking at them and realizing they truly didn't get it, she sighed. "That Abby doesn't have a smiley tattoo."

"You're basing the idea of her being alive on a _tattoo_?" Tony raised his eyebrows, then remembered his role and walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "Look, honey, you don't know she doesn't have the tattoo. And even if she doesn't, what's to say that she didn't just get it removed or something like that?" He stroked her back soothingly, murmuring something in her ear.

"I'm not just making this up because I miss her!" Kate screamed. "I swear, the tattoo's not there," she told them, lowering her voice to a normal level. "And she did have it." She glared at Tony.

Tony opened his mouth to retort, but Gibbs cut him off. "Well, let's just have a look and see if there's a tattoo on her ankle, or a scar from having one removed. If there isn't one there…" Gibbs trailed off, wondering what they _would_ do and if it would even mean anything. "Well, we'll figure it out in a minute."

They nodded, and Kate walked over to the autopsy table determinedly. As she reached for the sheet, Gibbs stopped her. "Kate, please, don't- Don't show her face." The pain was evident in his voice.

She looked at him and gave him a sympathetic half-smile. "I won't boss. I promise." She gently reached for the end where Abby's feet would be and lifted it to expose the floor length white dress. Then, almost reverently, she lifted the skirt.

As one, the entire room gasped.

There was no tattoo.


End file.
